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Housing and its distribution over groups of households dominates debates on urban socio-spatial justice. Amsterdam even received the label 'Just City' as the large stock of social housing in the core of the city is said to increase societal equity. Within the Netherlands, however, the Greater Amsterdam housing market is perceived to be the most dysfunctional. As the discussion is fed by highly political and ideological perspectives, it is difficult to assess at face value how balanced the housing mix of a housing market is and to what extent it meets the community's needs. Consequently, it is difficult to inform politicians about strategies that contribute to a healthy and sustainable housing mix and address the lack of affordable housing which is high on urban policy agendas worldwide. In an attempt to go beyond ideological and political discussions, the aim of this interdisciplinary paper is to develop a metric to measure and compare the theoretical balance of housing markets across regions and across groups of households based on income. The metric will be applied to the case of the Netherlands. The findings of the theoretical model show that large-scale provisions for low-income households may not always result in an improved housing market balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-binary and genderqueer (NBGQ) individuals do not identify with a binary gender identity. Some but not all NBGQ individuals identify as transgender, and it is currently unclear on which aspects of mental and sexual well-being NBGQ and binary transgender individuals may differ. To compare NBGQ, binary transgender and cisgender individuals on variables related to mental well-being, sexual well-being, and sexual self-concept discrepancies. We conducted an online questionnaire study in 125 transgender men, 72 transgender women, 78 NBGQ individuals, 98 cisgender men, and 107 cisgender women. For most variables, NBGQ individuals did not differ from binary transgender individuals. These two groups differed only on gender dysphoria and transgender specific body image worries, which were both lower in the NBGQ group. Compared to the cisgender group, NBGQ individuals scored higher on gender dysphoria, actual/ought sexual self-concept discrepancies, and actual/ideal sexual self-concept discrepancies, and lower on general life satisfaction and sexual esteem related to body perception. These results offer a first quantitative analysis of sexual well-being in NBGQ individuals, and highlight that – while both groups face unique challenges – NBGQ individuals encounter similar difficulties concerning mental and sexual well-being as binary transgender individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political jurisdictions in the United States have begun to develop plans that address green buildings, a topic on which the Netherlands has extensive experience. This article analyzes the literature on Dutch green buildings to look for lessons that might be relevant for the development of polices in the United States. Through a metasynthesis of seventeen studies on green building policies in the Netherlands, the study identifies patterns in the literature and creates a holistic interpretation. These data are compared with the literature on green building policies in the United States. The article concludes that guidance from the federal government?including a stronger research agenda for green building policy issues?could help spur innovation. Reliance on voluntary green building certification has very limited potential and stronger regulations are needed in the United States to minimize the environmental impacts of buildings. A flexible, broad policy system is also required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a large longitudinal data set of housing and mobility information for the city of Tilburg. The Netherlands, to examine the relationships among households and the housing stock. The focus is on the nature of housing consumption by tenure and life-cycle characteristics of households and the impact of space requirements on residential mobility. Stepwise Iogit and discriminant models show that space considerations are central stimuli in the mobility process and that square meters per person is the most consistent predictor of the propensity to move. A specific study of the role of births indicates that such additions to families, especially for private renters and renters in the public sector, are a significant trigger in the mobility process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]