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In the Netherlands, the post-war housing estates are increasingly experiencing problems. Some of these relate to the concentration of households with a low socioeconomic status on these estates. The Big Cities Policy aims to improve liveability in deprived urban areas by increasing the number of high-income households and thereby decreasing the share of problem-causing households in the neighbourhood. The increased differentiation in education, ethnicity, income, home-ownership structure and lifestyle presents a challenge to social cohesion. This paper demonstrates how differences between socioeconomic and ethnic groups relate to different dimensions of social cohesion: social networks, common values and place attachment and identity. The issue is interesting since social cohesion can help enhance liveability and increase the tolerance between groups that is so often lacking in multiethnic neighbourhoods with residents from many different socioeconomic backgrounds. The paper is based on a fieldwork study undertaken on two estates in the cities of Utrecht and The Hague in the Netherlands. As expected, quantitative analyses show clear differences between native Dutch people and members of other ethnic groups. Contrary to expectations, socioeconomic characteristics do not lead on all dimensions of social cohesion to differences in the degree of social cohesion. The conclusion drawn is that increasing the diversity of socioeconomic or ethnic groups in deprived urban areas is likely to lead to less social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In academic debates on neighbourhoods and social cohesion, there has been ample attention paid to processes in old urban residential districts as well as in the massive housing estates built from the 1960s until the 1980s. Newly developed suburban districts have always been in question, maybe even more so than inner-city areas, yet they have never had a prominent place on the research agenda. This article focuses on what we actually know about social cohesion and territorial ties in newly built suburban settlements, and is based on a literature survey and two recent empirical studies carried out in the Netherlands. Paraphrasing the ‘classic community question’, which referred to urban contexts, this paper's focus is on whether social cohesion in suburban areas is indeed causing a ‘suburban community question’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the changes in the tenant profile of the social rented stock in the Netherlands. It is inspired by the question whether the sector may be subject to a residualisation trend. The wider importance of such a phenomenon is that of the social marginalisation of the people concerned in general. Moreover, if the position of the social rented stock can be shown to be deteriorating, it would also illustrate a tendency to social polarisation in the redefined welfare state. Social and income polarisation in Western societies has been extensively investigated but, so far, polarisation tendencies in housing have largely been ignored. This article seeks to show that this omission should be rectified because changes in tenant profiles reveal wider developments. It also aims to uncover the impact of policy in this respect. The analysis of the changing position of the social rented sector during the period leading up to and following the housing policy reform of 1989 constitutes the core of the paper. The aim of that policy change was to improve the match between the tenants' ability to pay and the cost of housing as a means of reducing the burden of rent subsidies on the state. The reform has been hailed as an example of the effectiveness of policy-making. However, the analysis shows that the role of the social rented sector had already been shifting during the 1980s, well before the announcement of the overhaul of housing policy. This result illustrates that policy may simply codify decisions made in a network of actors rather than initiate change on its own accord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netherlands has a large and differentiated stock of social rented dwellings, forming more than 40 per cent of the total housing stock. Housing associations are by far the largest providers of housing services in this sector. Traditionally, these associations were subsidised heavily but since 1995 Dutch government has no longer directly subsidised these associations. This paper deals with changes in Dutch housing associations in a period (1988-95) characterised by government austerity, deregulation, market conformity, privatisation and promotion of home-ownership. It is explained how the housing associations were able to survive and even maintain prospects for a promising future in a political climate that threatened the social rented sector. It is clear that housing associations can now operate more independently than in the past. This is seen as a positive development, but the government is now discovering the drawbacks of complete privatisation. A firmer embedding in a public framework is considered desirable now. Recently the cabinet introduced a strengthening of public supervision. The housing associations' umbrella organisations presented their own National Housing Programme and published a business code for housing associations. A crucial issue has not been discussed so far: who will subsidise the housing investments for low-income households in periods of economic stagnation? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When analysing the spatial housing market structure of urban areas, a frequently arising question concerns the relevant criteria for housing market segmentation: is it the transaction price or related to other, socioeconomic. demographic and physical features of the location? In this study, two neural network techniques (SOM. LVQ, Kohonen) are used for identifying sub-markets within Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Because of the inductive nature of the modelling, any theory has to be understood in an open sense: generalising the principles of classification to another context to enable elaboration of institutionally sensitive housing market theory. These findings are therefore compared with earlier findings from another urban housing market—namely, Helsinki, Finland. The comparison shows that, while the price alone is an insufficient criterion for both markets, Amsterdam is more fragmented than Helsinki. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undocumented immigrants form a substantial share of minority populations. Data on the city of Rotterdam show that the fate of undocumented immigrants to a large degree is dependent on established migrant communities. Differences between migrant communities in terms of numbers and access to social housing seem to have significant effects on the position of undocumented immigrants with the same ethnic or national background. Undocumented immigrants both feed on and contribute to migrant communities in terms of housing opportunity and segregation. In the age of migration, any serious study of migrant communities has to take into account the presence and social position of undocumented immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many European countries, data on geographical patterns of internal elderly migration show that the elderly (55+) are more likely to leave than to move to the big cities. Besides emphasising the attractive features of the destination areas (pull factors), it is often assumed that this negative balance of migration of elderly people is caused by problems which mainly the big cities have to contend with and which would have a negative effect on living conditions, especially of the elderly (push factors). Although it is well-known that big cities in Europe are faced with several specific housing and neighbourhood problems, no detailed research has been carried out so far into whether these problems are indeed seen by the elderly themselves as very negative and, if so, whether these perceived problems result in an intention to move as a result of housing and neighbourhood dissatisfaction. The aim of this article is to shed empirical light on this matter for a case study in the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies upgrading and downgrading in the metropolitan region of Rotterdam, Netherlands from 1970-1990. Theoretical approaches on upgrading and downgrading; Government intervention in the Dutch housing market; Societal changes; Hypotheses; Mapping upgrading and downgrading; Case studies.

Analyzes the impact of housing policy shifts in the Netherlands on the housing situations of low-income groups. Housing market positions; Spatial structure and development trends in Utrecht, Netherlands; Utrecht housing market and the urban poor.