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This paper, presenting evidence from the Netherlands, aims to connect two issues that are mostly dealt with in isolation: the development of the squatters’ movement and the increasing vacancy of offices in urban areas. As a result of overproduction of office space, the shrinking number of employed people and the growing popularity of the so-called ‘new working arrangements’, the vacancy of offices in urban areas is increasing quickly. Urban managers are faced with a significant challenge of managing these empty spaces and this paper discusses how squatting, despite an unsupportive legislative environment, has historically proliferated when vacancy rates rise.In order to understand contemporary policy debates surrounding this issue, this paper first sets out a brief history of the squatters’ movement in the Netherlands, Europe and elsewhere. Dutch government has wrestled with the squatting issue since 1976 and has tried to control this movement by legislation. Hence, the paper provides a critical overview of legislative and practical developments affecting squatters in the Netherlands, particularly in their occupation of vacant office space. Finally, the paper considers how vacant office space might be used more effectively to provide affordable housing, with a particular focus on the role of squatting.

In 2010 a working party made up of Dutch civil servants suggested a tool known as the ‘National Residential Property Tax’ with the aim of strengthening the public budget. Initially, this was intended as a tenure-neutral tax for both the owner-occupier and the rented sector. However, in the 2012 Coalition Agreement between the conservatives (VVD) and the social democrats (PvdA) it was narrowed down to a levy for landlords of properties with regulated rents – and thus ended up as a specific tax largely targeted at housing associations. On the one hand, the new government was offering housing association opportunities for annual rent increases above the rate of inflation but, on the other hand, it was getting ready to cream off the extra revenue to alleviate its own budgetary problems. By 2017 this new levy will have risen to 1.7 billion euros annually. This paper explains the background to this unique Dutch housing policy instrument and presents an ex ante evaluation of the impact of the landlord levy on housing associations, commercial real estate investors and tenants. It will also offer some conclusions and policy recommendations for housing policy in the Netherlands, which could be relevant for other European countries as well.

The size of the Dutch social housing sector, with a 32 per cent share of the housing stock, has prompted concerns over the 'level playing field' of competition between social and commercial housing providers. In 2007, this concern culminated in a complaint from the Dutch Association of Institutional Investors (IVBN) to the European Commission, with particular reference to the distorting effects of state aid to housing associations. In December 2009 the European Commission published its decision about the conditions for state aid to Dutch housing associations. The Commission agrees with the proposal of the Dutch government that housing associations allocate at least 90 per cent of their social rental dwellings to households with an income of less than EUR 33,000, if they want to remain eligible for state aid for these activities. Furthermore, housing associations may invest in real estate for public purposes. With its decision, the Commission ends a long period of uncertainty and contributes to creating a level playing field on the Dutch housing market. Nevertheless, the Commission's decision also hampers policies to increase tenure diversification and social mix in Dutch neighbourhoods.

The economic importance of accommodating container transport and the increasing demand for container-handling capacity are major triggers for conventional ports to develop container terminals. The port of Vlissingen, located between Rotterdam and Antwerp, is aspiring to gain a position in deep-sea container handling. A relevant factor that greatly determines the potential of the port of Vlissingen is the critical mass of the container terminal handling operations to be developed by the port authority. In developing a full deep-sea terminal there is consensus about a critical mass of approximately one million TEU with possibilities to extend to at least two million TEU. In its role as a satellite port for Antwerp, a critical mass of 350?000 TEU could be sufficient. In attracting sufficiently large container flows to Vlissingen, the competitive strength of the port plays an important role. Our contribution in this article lies in the analysis of the optimal size of container port development. The competitive position of the proposed container port of Vlissingen is analysed by using economic research and forecasting methods, backcasting analysis, and analysis of the competitive position vis-a-vis Antwerp and Rotterdam.

Low-cost operations have traditionally formed the competitive edge of inland shipping. Because of the exploitation of these comparative advantages, the barge sector has succeeded in gaining a substantial market share in container transport. The cost and quality performance of terminals play a major role in improving the competitiveness of container barge transport. Terminal handling is a major cost frontier because the share of terminal costs in the total chain of costs of barge transport is relatively large. The handling of barges in seaports is especially expensive. To enable new types of cost-efficient barge services, additional functions for terminals come into play (i.e., there is a new challenge for the functional performance of barge inland terminals). This paper explores the future requirements and opportunities of barge terminals to improve further the competitiveness of container barge transport. The relationship between barge network design and terminal design is relevant. Based on a review of the major cost drivers in barge handling and the role of terminals in barge service networks, new challenges for container barge handling and possible solutions are discussed. A major conclusion is that a differentiated approach is needed in developing new terminal and handling concepts. The major drivers for this differentiated approach are the container volumes to be handled and the position of the terminal in the network.

AbstractThe new European Reform Treaty, which was agreed politically in 2007, includes a separate protocol which allows European member states considerable freedom to organize and run their social amenities – including social housing. It appears that housing associations are eligible for state support, but only provided certain conditions are met. This arrangement is unlikely to finally resolve the tension between European competition policy and national autonomy in social housing policy.This tension has been highlighted by a recent complaint from the Association of Institutional Property Investors in the Netherlands (IVBN) concerning state support for Dutch housing associations. This paper discusses the nature and background of this complaint. As there is still very little experience of policy or case law in this area, it is difficult to predict how Brussels will respond to the IVBN complaint. The implications of EU competition policy on the position and remit of the Dutch housing associations are still unclear. What is clear, however, is that, once again, the social housing providers in the European Union in general, and the housing associations in the Netherlands in particular, face a long period of uncertainty.

Low-cost operations have traditionally formed the competitive edge of inland shipping. Because of the exploitation of these comparative advantages, the barge sector has succeeded in gaining a substantial market share in container transport. The cost and quality performance of terminals play a major role in improving the competitiveness of container barge transport. Terminal handling is a major cost frontier because the share of terminal costs in the total chain of costs of barge transport is relatively large. The handling of barges in seaports is especially expensive. To enable new types of cost-efficient barge services, additional functions for terminals come into play (i.e., there is a new challenge for the functional performance of barge inland terminals). This paper explores the future requirements and opportunities of barge terminals to improve further the competitiveness of container barge transport. The relationship between barge network design and terminal design is relevant. Based on a review of the major cost drivers in barge handling and the role of terminals in barge service networks, new challenges for container barge handling and possible solutions are discussed. A major conclusion is that a differentiated approach is needed in developing new terminal and handling concepts. The major drivers for this differentiated approach are the container volumes to be handled and the position of the terminal in the network.

The least popular urban districts are often dominated by social housing. In the Netherlands, the housing associations and the government reached a formal agreement in February 2007 to intervene in problem urban areas, 40 of which have been officially designated as priority neighbourhoods in need of special attention. This paper presents basic information about Dutch housing associations and the dynamics of Dutch policy on urban renewal. It sets out the proposals submitted by Aedes, the Dutch umbrella organisation of housing associations, on 2nd February, 2007. Five days later these proposals were incorporated in the Coalition Agreement of the current Cabinet of Balkenende IV. The current visions of the crucial role of social housing providers in urban renewal are explained and comments are made on the strategies of the government and the housing associations. Finally, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are offered for the Netherlands and for other EU member states where the position of the social housing sector is substantially different from the position of the social housing sector in the Netherlands. The role played by social housing providers in urban renewal in the Netherlands may serve as a source of inspiration for practitioners. In other EU countries, social housing providers (with a much smaller share of the housing market) may need more public subsidies and may resort more to selling rental properties.

Abstract: In the Netherlands the regeneration of post-war urban districts is closely intertwined with the role of housing associations. This is hardly surprising, given that the housing associations have such a large share of the market (usually over 50%; sometimes nearly 100%) in many early post-war urban districts. This has caused a growing concentration of low-income households in those urban areas and a selective migration by middle- and high-income households from the city to the suburb. Official government policy on housing and urban renewal is directed at a redifferentiation of the urban housing stock. Specifically, the policy promotes more owner-occupation, larger and higher-quality homes, and a greater percentage of homes with a garden. This implies the demolition of social housing estates and selling social housing. The position of housing associations in the regeneration of Dutch post-war urban districts is somewhat enigmatic. On the one hand, national government is expecting them to take initiative and invest in urban renewal; on the other, government is urging them to cut down their market share. How are housing associations coping with this paradoxical challenge? And what are the current national policies about the position of housing associations? Aedes (the umbrella organisation of Dutch housing associations) and the Dutch Ministry of Housing have agreed upon the so-called great transition of housing associations. Here we explain and critique this great transition, which will hamper the current regeneration of Dutch urban districts. As an alternative we present the new transition.

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Abstract: Housing policy in the European Union is the exclusive domain of national governments. European authorities, however, are using their powers in the area of competition more and more to exert a far-reaching influence on policy areas where the Member States should be autonomous.In the Netherlands the Housing Act of 1901 forms the public framework for housing associations, which combine public functions with more or less commercial activities. These hybrid organizations fulfil in the Netherlands the public function not only of housing the households with modest incomes, but also of fostering variety in the housing stock and reducing spatial segregation. Apparently the European Commission underestimates the significance and logic of hybrid organizations. It is important that Member States exercise their autonomous right to shape their own housing policies to the full. European competition policy, in itself a necessary and useful policy domain, must not be misused to thwart national housing aspirations.

ABSTRACTIn the Netherlands 95 per cent of all rents are regulated. The Housing Minister announced in her Rental Letter of November 2004 that this would be reduced to 75 per cent. At the same time she wants the housing associations to contribute €250 million a year to the increasing public expenditure on housing allowances and she wants the social and commercial landlords to invest more in new rented accommodations. This paper describes the content and background of the Rental Letter and analyses its policy proposals. It deals with the debates between the Housing Minister and parliament on rent policy and it indicates the pros and cons of the Rental Letter. We conclude that, as a result of the Rental Letter and some additional policy developments, the Dutch social rented sector (with a current market share of 36 per cent) is now under fire.

We compare the current U.S. housing voucher program with the British housing benefit and the Dutch housing allowance programs. After presenting the theory behind income-related housing support, which underpins both the U.S. and European systems, we compare the three programs with respect to their scope (the budgeted versus the entitlement approach), the relationship between housing support and rent levels, the poverty trap, moral hazards, and administrative problems.The United States can learn from Great Britain and the Netherlands that a full entitlement program can best promote equity, but given the present political and economic climate, it is unlikely that Congress will adopt such a program anytime soon. Great Britain and the Netherlands can learn from the United States how to design a more efficient tenant subsidy program, one that provides incentives to find less expensive units and promotes family self-sufficiency through enhanced job-seeking behavior.

In Dutch urban renewal, we observe an implementation gap between dreaming and doing. Dutch national government recently proposed to focus urban renewal on more than 50 priority areas in the cities and to reduce urban renewal subsidies. It is not very likely that this policy will accelerate urban renewal. This contribution suggests a different approach: the formulation of an urban district vision shared by the sustainable stakeholders in those districts. If they can come to an agreement, they deserve housing association finance and public urban renewal support. By targeting the plans primarily on the social climbers in the urban districts involved, the city can keep their buying power within the city. Combining physical, social, economic and safety agendas and adopting a multi-functional orientation would seem to be a successful strategy.

Recently, the Netherlands has been pursuing a new policy of urban renewal. Old urban renewal concentrated on pre-war urban districts and had a technical orientation. The predominant shift in tenure was from commercial to social rented housing. New urban renewal focuses on post-war urban districts and tries to solve the mismatch between a differentiated demand for housing and a one-sided supply. The shift in tenure is now mainly from social rented housing to owner-occupied housing. The physical agenda is combined with social, economic and safety issues.This paper presents an overview of the transition from old to new urban renewal. We shall begin with a few observations and then present some current dilemmas. We shall comment on the recent report by the Dutch VROM Council‘Acceleration and Deceleration in Urban Renewal’and offer some recommendations for successful urban renewal. These recommendations are geared to the current situation in the Netherlands, but they may also be relevant for other countries in and outside Europe.

Recently a discussion flared up in the Netherlands on the effectivenessand efficiency of providers of social housing. Though most people feel that Dutch housing associations are run effectively, there are no data to underpin this conclusion. The government is not clear about the criteria for each housing association: most of the criteria are unquantified and, to some extent, contradictory. Nor is it clear whether every individual housing association has to meet these criteriato the same extent. Many more doubts have been raised about the efficiencyof social housing providers, as housing associations do not act as if theywant to maximize profits. Several suggestions have been put forward to improve efficiency: periodicalexternal visitations, benchmarking, the introduction of a Real Estate Index,and outsourcing a substantial part of the management and development activities. The main conclusion so far is that we are under-informed aboutthe efficiency of housing associations. Some advisory bodies argue that theoverall efficiency of housing associations would improve if they were transferred from the semi-public to the private sector. They claim that thedemand side of the housing market could be strengthened by the introductionof housing vouchers and suggest that housing associations opt out of the public sector. These options fail to take account of the fact that we are insufficiently informed about the efficiency of commercial players on the housing market and the inherent shortcomings of free housing markets when it comes to accessibility, affordability and quality for low-income households, externaleffects and the cherry-picking of tenants by commercial landlords. Hence, weconclude that until more information is available on the true effectivenessand efficiency of housing associations, there are good reasons to continue their current hybrid status, which combines public tasks and market activities.

Housing markets are essentially regional. We observe a differential territorial segmentation of housing markets: for high-income groups and expensive dwellings the search area is larger than for low-income groups and cheap accommodations. But there is also something like a national housing market, as long as housing policies and housing institutions are national. In the future, when the national population is going to decline in the Netherlands and some other EU countries, we may expect a general pressure on the national housing market, undoubtedly with regional variations.

Until recently it has been usual in the Netherlands for local authorities to acquire land for development, to prepare it for building, and then make building lots available through sale or leasehold. In the 1990s housing production shifted from social housing to owner-occupied housing. Project developers became interested in the ownership of land as the key to build dwellings. These land purchases changed the context in which local authorities had to operate in the development of land. Instead of making arrangements for the recovery of costs via a public monopoly, local authorities now have to revert to a set of statutory instruments, or enter negotiations with market parties to come to an agreement on a voluntary contribution to development costs. In this contribution, we report the current state of the discussion in the Netherlands on the recovery of costs and we analyse various alternative instruments.

The most recent population forecasts tell us that the number of people living in the Netherlands will decrease after 2030, and the number of households after 2035. A long period of housing surpluses may be expected to follow the post-war era, a period marked by housing shortages. According to Kornai's theory, market equilibrium is the exception rather than the rule and this is particularly the case in housing. The impact made by surpluses on a market differs from that made by shortages, and this difference will lead to a new generation of housing policies. In this contribution we describe a new set of instruments of housing policy in which a system of housing vouchers plays an essential part.

In December 2000 the final version of the Dutch Housing Memorandum ‘Whatpeople want, where people live’ was published, covering the period2000–2010. An increasing prosperity is expected, in combinationwith an increasing individualization, emancipation and multiculturalprofile of society. More individual freedom of choice for the citizen isthe point of departure in the new Housing Memorandum. Although thispolicy message is clear and attractive, the Memorandum leaves the readerpuzzled. In this contribution, three dilemmas are highlighted: Does thecitizen really choose or is it the State which makes the choices, inparticular between buying or renting? Are housing associations able toserve a differentiated mix of tenants, or will the residents of socialhousing become marginalized? What will be the place of the municipalityand the State: on the sidelines of the new housing policy, or in thecentre? The Housing Memorandum seems to be a direct attack on thehousing associations. On the other hand, the Memorandum may just be apaper tiger, challenging the housing associations to show that they canreally meet the citizens' needs and demands for more quality andvariety.

The central question addressed in this paper is whether both thesocial and private rented sectors in Central and Eastern Europeancountries are based on robust institutions or constitute a no man'sland. The latter case is a position a landlord tries to avoid andpublic authorities try to abandon by promoting home-ownership.As we argue in this paper, during the transformation of economic and housing policy in Central and Eastern Europe,the perception of the social rental sector as a no man's landis not far from the truth. The same applies for private renting,which has the reputation of being an extension of the owner-occupiedsector. A truly professional private rented sector is still lackingin Central and Eastern Europe. National and local governments try to get rid of rented dwellings by promoting owner-occupation.If they want to prevent the rented sectors from remaining orbecoming a no man's land, they have to create regulations andinstitutions like those in West European countries to supportboth social and commercial rented housing.

The market share of trucks in European freight transport is still growing. Avoiding road congestion and other environmental reasons makes a modal shift towards barge, train and pipes necessary. This shift entails much more than the substitution of truck kilometres by train or ship kilometres.First, trains and ships do not usually provide door‐to‐door transport services. A transhipment of freight is necessary to create intermodal logistic chains.Second, transhipment usually entails high costs and loss of time. There are, however, encouraging developments: strategically located multimodal terminals can efficiently tranship freight from one mode to another, operating 24 h a day. This transhipment can be implemented in an automated, robotized manner. Such technological innovations provide terminals with a promising future.Third, freight flows may be too thin to guarantee a satisfactory loading efficiency. The solution can be found by rearranging logistic chains to bundle freight and achieve thicker freight flows.This contribution describes — from a Dutch perspective — current problems of multi‐modality in European freight transport and some promising developments concerning terminals and networks. A technological and organizational breakthrough towards multimodality in freight transport is anticipated. This implies a change in the spatial configuration of freight flows and multimodal terminals along with the optimal choice of a combination of modes. This paper indicates an optimalization problem on a European scale, aiming at the minimization of private costs and a reduction of environmental costs.

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Policy, Organisation and Tenure: A Comparative History of Housing in Small Welfare States. Lennart J. Lundqvist (ed) Gothenburg, Scandinavian University Press, 1992, pp139, (hardback).Social Work and Housing, G Stewart and J Stewart, Macmillan, 1993 pp188. £32.50 (hardback), £9.50 (paperback).Markets, States and Housing Provision: Four European Growth Regions Compared, Progress in Planning, 38, part 2, p93-177. J. Barlow and S. Duncan. Oxford-New York-Seoul-Tokyo: Pergaman Press, 1992.Housing Conditions in Barbados: A Geographical Analysis. R. B. Potter, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies, 1992, pp129 US$15.00.

In the Netherlands proposals for a rent tax or filtering charge have a long history. This article outlines the nature of such proposals and argues against their introduction.

This article investigates how housing and housing policy in the Netherlands developed in a period of economic and demographic stagnation (1974-1984). It is argued that there have been some policy adjustments, but that the housing sector has been able to hold its own reasonably well in the political arena. Public spending on housing as a percentage of the national budget since 1978 has risen. This is the result of the strong position of the interest groups in the non-profit rent sector and - above all -of reasons situated outside housing itself: unemployment in the building trade, the relation between rent policy and incomes policy and the economic importance of urban restructuring processes. Housing held its own for non-housing reasons.

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