Introduction to Sustainable Urban Renewal: CO2 Reduction and the Use of Performance Agreements: Experience from the Netherlands

As in other European countries, the renewal of post-war housing estates is a major policy issue in the Netherlands. The aim is to upgrade neighbourhoods by means of demolition, renovation of social rented housing and construction of new owner-occupied dwellings. The existing housing stock is a key factor in attaining the greenhouse gas reduction targets in the Kyoto Protocol. This process of renewal will pursue high targets and ambitions as it gets underway in the coming years. It will lead to major interventions in the housing stock and - at the same time - rigorously challenge the market players to make existing dwellings more environmentally-friendly and to develop sustainability in post-war housing. By presenting two case studies this book offers insight into the environmental policies of Dutch housing associations and municipalities. Focusing specifically on the role of performance agreements in realising sustainability ambitions, it also assesses the feasibility of C02 reductions and examines the costs and decision-making processes.