Even that concession is a fight, of course, and the powers that be sometimes talk of closing the 30-year-old park to make way for shops. Skaters and bikers, a tiny minority of South Bankers, have fought to keep the park alive.
It makes sense to trust in minorities: graffiti artists and skateboarders are experts on graffiti and skateboarding. Their elected representatives probably don't know how to stamp or ollie, so nobody expects them to propose a skate park, out of the blue, at the next city council meeting.
Skateboarder (Amsterdam)
But eventually they will. Leaders aren't there to lead their people: they're there to follow them.
Chess player (Amsterdam)