Mixed neighbourhoods: effects of urban restructuring and new housing development

Publication

Many European countries use mixed housing policies to decrease the spatial concentration of low-income households. Also in the Netherlands, social housing in deprived neighbourhoods is being demolished and replaced by more expensive dwellings. The idea is that these new dwellings will attract higher-income groups to urban restructuring neighbourhoods. At the same time, however, large numbers of relatively expensive dwellings have been built on greenfield locations. This leads to a dilemma: will higher-income households choose to live in such restructuring neighbourhoods, while attractive new houses in greenfield locations are also available?

Increasing concentration of low-income households in deprived neighbourhoods

This paper shows that urban restructuring attracts higher-income households to mixed tenure developments in deprived neighbourhoods, even when competing with greenfield development. Nevertheless, another process is also taking place; especially in urban regions with extensive greenfield development there is a significant outflow of higher-income households away from deprived neighbourhoods. The net result is an increasing concentration of low-income households in deprived neighbourhoods.

Authors

Sanne Boschman (PBL/TUD), Ronald van Kempen (UU), Gideon Bolt (UU) & Frank van Dam (PBL)

Specifications

Publication title
Mixed neighbourhoods: effects of urban restructuring and new housing development
Publication date
19 March 2013
Publication type
Publication
Magazine
Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 104, pp. 233-242
Product number
668