Jan van Weesep

Ethnic Residential Patterns in Dutch Cities: Backgrounds, Shifts and Consequences

This article describes recent trends in the residential patterns of ethnic minorities, specifically Turks and Moroccans, in Dutch cities. In order to evaluate the patterns and their dynamics, some general observations about segregation are included. The patterns in the big cities are compared to those observed elsewhere in the country and in other European cities. This brief comparison is followed by a discussion of how the observed spatial patterns affect the social life of the groups in question. The article concludes with a list of factors that are likely to influence the evolution of ethnic residential patterns in the Netherlands in the near future. There seem to be ever fewer reasons to believe that the trend towards increasing segregation in Dutch cities can be reversed.This article describes recent trends in the residential patterns of ethnic minorities, specifically Turks and Moroccans, in Dutch cities. In order to evaluate the patterns and their dynamics, some general observations about segregation are included. The patterns in the big cities are compared to those observed elsewhere in the country and in other European cities. This brief comparison is followed by a discussion of how the observed spatial patterns affect the social life of the groups in question. The article concludes with a list of factors that are likely to influence the evolution of ethnic residential patterns in the Netherlands in the near future. There seem to be ever fewer reasons to believe that the trend towards increasing segregation in Dutch cities can be reversed.

Gentrification and the Urban Poor: Urban Restructuring and Housing Policy in Utrecht

A major housing policy shift is occurring in the Netherlands in the early 1990s. Its main thrust is the decentralisation of control from the national to the regional level. The trend toward deregulation and budget cuts will give market principles more leeway in housing. This paper traces the impact of these policies on the housing situations of low-income groups. Some of the anticipated effects are illustrated in a case-study of housing and neighbourhood change in the Utrecht metropolitan region. The paper starts with a sketch of the shifting housing market positions of various residents against the backdrop of social trends. This state of flux is related to current economic restructuring and to the new housing policies. Competition between population groups is highlighted in the case-study of Utrecht where gentrification and the regional cooperation of housing authorities are changing the rules of the game. At present, displacement is the lesser evil, compared to the debilitating effects of renewed suburbanisation. But in the future, the effects of gentrification will depend on the regional redistribution of socio-economic groups. It may create serious problems if the low-income population is not offered housing opportunities in the suburbs.A major housing policy shift is occurring in the Netherlands in the early 1990s. Its main thrust is the decentralisation of control from the national to the regional level. The trend toward deregulation and budget cuts will give market principles more leeway in housing. This paper traces the impact of these policies on the housing situations of low-income groups. Some of the anticipated effects are illustrated in a case-study of housing and neighbourhood change in the Utrecht metropolitan region. The paper starts with a sketch of the shifting housing market positions of various residents against the backdrop of social trends. This state of flux is related to current economic restructuring and to the new housing policies. Competition between population groups is highlighted in the case-study of Utrecht where gentrification and the regional cooperation of housing authorities are changing the rules of the game. At present, displacement is the lesser evil, compared to the debilitating effects of renewed suburbanisation. But in the future, the effects of gentrification will depend on the regional redistribution of socio-economic groups. It may create serious problems if the low-income population is not offered housing opportunities in the suburbs.

Fear and Fantasy in the Public Domain: The Development of Secured and Themed Urban Space

Current projects to upgrade public spaces in Western cities seek to produce secured space by improving safety and decrease feelings of fear, and to produce themed space by promoting urban entertainment or fantasy. This study examines how ‘fear’ and ‘fantasy’ influence urban design and management of two public spaces in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It traces social antecedents for the development of secured and themed public space, such as a growing differentiation of urban lifestyles, and proposes a new technique for analysing public spaces. The case studies differ in design and management: one is secured, the other themed. However, each secured space contains an element of ‘fantasy’, and each themed space an element of ‘fear’.

'We're a rich city with poor people': municipal strategies of new-build gentrification in Rotterdam and Glasgow

Gentrification—the creation of affluent space—has evolved from a sporadic and spontaneous process focusing on individual households into a municipal goal in and of itself, either in existing neighbourhoods, or in new-build developments. This is increasingly being done through flagship new-build gentrification projects. This paper examines why and how this strategy has been implemented in Rotterdam and Glasgow through a study of two projects: the Kop van Zuid and Glasgow Harbour. By using a comparative approach, it sheds further light on reasons for pursuing this municipal goal, and examines how large new-build flagship gentrification is used to help realise these aims. It reveals a discourse in which the rationale of this policy is linked to the attraction and retention of affluent households, a lack of which, it is believed by policy makers, hurts urban competitiveness. It shows that this discourse is present and influences these two projects despite the different compositions of actors involved (the municipally led Kop van Zuid and the developer-led Glasgow Harbour). However, the ways in which this goal is implemented vary according to the local contexts and the different roles ascribed to the various stakeholders.

Housing and Social Fragmentation in the Netherlands

The role of housing policy has been largely ignored in the debate on social fragmentation in Western societies. Only in Great Britain has this aspect attained prominence on the research agenda. Investigations there have shown that the mode of housing provision mitigates the effects of social fragmentation. Research elsewhere might help to clarify how and why the housing market amplifies or diminishes these effects. The case of the Netherlands is particularly illuminating because of the drastic housing policy reforms made there in recent years, allowing for a before-and-after assessment. This paper traces the effects of policy - and its reforms - on the range of housing conditions. In addition to dealing with the country as a whole, it investigates the changes in cities because of the specific nature of the urban housing stock. The analysis of how the housing conditions of various population categories changed during the period leading up to and following the announcement of the housing reforms of 1989 constitutes the core of the paper. The results show that housing conditions were already changing in the direction of the new policy aims during the 1980s. This casts doubt on the autonomous contribution of housing policy to changing housing conditions. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of these results.

Economic Change, Income Differentiation and Housing: Urban Response in the Netherlands

The economic development in the Netherlands and the spatial structure of housing opportunities have led to a concentration of the poor in the large cities. The cities offer a large affordable housing stock, and housing regulations provide the poor with sufficient access to decent housing. There are, however, interesting variations in housing situations among different segments of the poor. It is also characteristic in Dutch cities that the poor find themselves in direct competition with higher-income groups for housing. Recent economic trends, changing housing preferences and deregulation tendencies have increased this competition. The outcome is still uncertain, but may well cast a shadow over the future of the cities.The economic development in the Netherlands and the spatial structure of housing opportunities have led to a concentration of the poor in the large cities. The cities offer a large affordable housing stock, and housing regulations provide the poor with sufficient access to decent housing. There are, however, interesting variations in housing situations among different segments of the poor. It is also characteristic in Dutch cities that the poor find themselves in direct competition with higher-income groups for housing. Recent economic trends, changing housing preferences and deregulation tendencies have increased this competition. The outcome is still uncertain, but may well cast a shadow over the future of the cities.

Public housing sales in the Netherlands: The record and the outlook

A brief description of the public housing system in the Netherlands provides the context for a preliminary and partial evaluation of the effects of the program of selling public rental housing to sitting tenants. In recent years, the program was virtually dead, but the Dutch government is now attempting to revive it. The evaluation is concerned with the financial effects and especially with the consequences of past sales for the continued functioning of housing associations, the operators of public housing complexes. The empirical basis of the study includes conversations with spokesmen for the associations and a pilot study among buyers of public housing units. Despite current unpopularity of the program among tenants and housing associations, the sales volume is expected to rise: to deal with their increasing financial problems, the associations will be forced to sell property.

CONDOMINIUM CONVERSION IN AMSTERDAM: BOON OR BURDEN?

In Amsterdam, a large number of rental units were converted to condominiums during the 1970s. Local housing officials observed this process with alarm and tried (in vain) to put an end to conversion. Given the tight housing market, they feared that a decrease in the number of available rental units would impede a fair distribution of housing. They also assumed that proper maintenance of the dwellings would not take place. But their arguments were not based on a solid evaluation. Recent research results demonstrate that sub-markets exist within the condominium sector, and that in each of these the effects of conversion are different. While this study identifies problems at the lower end of the market, the conversion of more expensive units coincides with an improved matching of households and dwellings and with an upgrading of the housing stock.

The creation of a new housing sector: Condominiums in the United States

Abstract The condominium is a recent innovation in the U.S. Around 1960 it was simultaneously introduced in Florida and California. Special interest groups actively promoted condominiums at meetings of the construction and real estate industries as well as in their trade journals. These industries were taught about the development process. Eventually the public was made aware of the advantages of condominium ownership. At the same time, a drive to have the condominium recognised in federal and state statutes was successful. But winning acceptance for the condominium was an uphill battle, and only after 1970, when additional legislation dealt with widely publicised abuses, did the condominium become an acceptable form of real property ownership and attain maturity.

Social networks of rural–urban migrants after residential relocation: evidence from Yangzhou, a medium-sized Chinese city

Abstract This paper analyses the effects of residential relocation on China’s rural–urban migrants’ social networks in light of evidence from Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. Our study contrasts voluntary moves with forced moves driven by demolition-led redevelopment of urban villages. Based on data from a survey conducted between 2012 and 2013, the regression analysis shows that voluntarily relocated migrants are more likely than forced movers to use phone/computer to contact their former neighbours, and communication technology allows them to maintain the frequency of their contact. Furthermore, when moving to a gated neighbourhood, voluntary movers are more likely than forced movers to participate in public activities, to have more contact with new neighbours and thereby to get more help from the residents’ committee and new neighbours. The results suggest that forced moves have negative effects on migrants’ social networks in the neighbourhood and that the demolition-led redevelopment programmes do not promote the migrants’ integration in the city.