Planning for LGBTQ+ in the Urban Sport Park

Abstract

In recent years, the Netherlands’ public agenda has centred on diversity, equity, and inclusion - particularly in the City of Utrecht. Yet, the most recent Lhbtiqa+-monitor 2024 (Brammer et al., 2024) illustrates that LGBTQ+ individuals, especially transgender people, bisexuals, and those LGBTQ+ with migration backgrounds, face persistent challenges, including reduced safety in public spaces and poorer mental and physical health outcomes. The Netherlands has demonstrated significant progress on LGBTQ+ rights in the country since the 1970s when medical institutions ceased treating homosexuality as a mental illness, and homosexuals gained the right to serve in the military. It was also the first country in the world to recognize gay marriage. Nevertheless, this reputation for upholding legal rights contrasts sharply with lived experiences, as illustrated in the findings of the Lhbtiqa+-monitor 2024, raising important questions about how inclusion translates into everyday urban life. This research investigates to what degree stated inclusion goals and policies influence LGBTQ+ inclusion in Dutch urban sports park planning activities, focusing on Utrecht’s Maarschalkerweerd redevelopment and the Multi-Sport Campus Traiectum project. Drawing on a review of Maarschalkerweerd redevelopment project documents and semi-structured qualitative interviews with a range of relevant city actors, the research findings reveal that while inclusion is widely championed in strategic visions, it is not consistently implemented in practice.