#jesse jorg

As the Amsterdam-based founder of We the City, Jesse Jorg has conceived a diverse collection of urban community projects, including Benches Collective, a social initiative that encourages locals to set up shop outside their homes and offer anything from a cup of coffee to a haircut; Buurtcamping, which transformed the city’s Oosterpark into a three-day campsite; and De Ceuvel, the regeneration of an abandoned shipyard into an urban oasis that houses offices and workshops. ‘My goal is to kick-start movement,’ explains Jorg. ‘Where city dwellers themselves, as opposed to the market or the government, take the lead in “making” their city.’ For his latest project, the Knowledge Mile, a once neglected strip is being turned by a series of educational institutions into a creative environment. www.wethecity.nl