Coalition agreement 2022-2026

Community resilience in districts requires an innovative way of working for Maastricht, in which we will draw up integrated local development plans together with residents and partner organisations. Not the regulations but the solutions will take centre stage. We will start by concluding a social contract in two areas yet to be designated, setting concrete and measurable goals.

We will not build purely for profit, but for the broad prosperity of all Maastricht residents. Spatial development is an instrument to promote quality of life, social and economic development. We foresee major developments in several important areas of the city in the coming years. Think of the ENCI site, Limmel aan de Maas, Belvédère, vulnerable neighbourhoods and the riverbanks of the Maas. In the medium term, we will continue to break down remaining East-West barriers, such as the railway.

A safe and liveable living environment is a core value for our residents. Visibly present and approachable community workers, enforcement officers and local police officers are therefore important. Increasing the number of enforcement officers on the street is necessary, also at night, as is regional lobbying for more police capacity.

Housing is a universal human right, which is why we want to make the housing offer in Maastricht more affordable, sustainable and diverse. We will facilitate the construction of student campuses and focus on higher quality social rental housing, more mid-market rent and sufficient supply in the owner-occupied market. We will pay special attention to housing for older people and first-time buyers to promote mobility.

Environmental objectives and geopolitical developments require us to accelerate on several themes, in collaboration with our residents, companies, social partners and knowledge institutions. This mainly concerns realising solutions for the flooding problem of the Maas and its tributaries, and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. In the field of mobility, too, we will make choices that will make the living environment of our city even more attractive.

Everyone should be able to join the conversation, brainstorm with us or help us make decisions. The low turnout in the municipal council elections shows how important it is to stimulate resident participation more frequently and more strongly. In the coming years we will strive to close the gap between the municipality and its residents through various initiatives in the field of citizen participation. This includes introducing dedicated project leaders and members of the municipal executive who are each committed to one of Maastricht's seven districts, adequate working budgets included, adopting a participation regulation and further developing the citizens’ budget.

The task for the coming period is to intertwine Maastricht's knowledge-based economy with the residential, working and visitor city that Maastricht currently is and will always be. In short: tourism, the manufacturing industry, people with practice-oriented training and residents who deserve more opportunities must form permanent links in the growing Maastricht knowledge economy. It is crucial to involve small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to achieve this. It is also necessary to strengthen the bond between 'knowledge and district' and make it tangible.

It is important that everyone can contribute to culture and experience it. We are proud of our folk culture, our emerging pop culture, our institutions such as the conservatoire, the drama school and the art academy, of all our creatives and professional institutions that play a vital role. The sum of all these components makes us the second cultural city in the Netherlands. We must strengthen the connection between amateurs and professionals, give a boost to cultural education and encourage collaboration between associations and other social organisations in the area, supporting community resilience in the districts.

To improve public health, it is essential that our residents participate in sport and exercise. We will create more facilities in our public space for playing, exercise, sport, meeting and general mobility. Together with residents and sport and exercise providers, we will provide safely accessible and well-maintained sports facilities and playgrounds in the districts and neighbourhoods, and we will facilitate residents who want to take the initiative themselves. After all, sport is not only important for health – it also stimulates encounters and acts as a social glue in the city and the districts.

We must improve cooperation between neighbouring municipalities and sister cities, especially in view of projects such as the Einstein Telescope and the realisation of cross-border public transport. The flooding in July 2021 also shows that cooperation is more important than ever in the field of climate, sustainability, energy and strengthening our joint lobby towards The Hague and Brussels. Maastricht must play the right role in all these collaborations by taking the lead and building connections.

The current municipal executive aspires to prevent further division and wants to do this by promoting equality of opportunity. A person's place of birth in the city should not influence their life chances. Opportunity starts with education and preventing disadvantage at an early age. Equality of opportunity also implies accessible education for everyone, which requires a broad school community on both sides of the Maas.

We are convinced that the municipal executive must shape the development of the city in closer collaboration with its residents. A solid area-oriented working method, both in terms of governance and organisation, is necessary to restore the connection with districts and neighbourhoods. An open dialogue with the municipal council that transcends traditional coalition-opposition thinking also fits within this approach. Here, too, we will ask ourselves: how can we make the best decisions based on connection? Getting on top of the municipal finances is a decisive precondition for the success of the municipal executive's ambitions, starting in the social domain. We must also organise government operations more robustly through centralisation.