Sustainable Urban Areas

Various location specific attributes contribute to the spatial dynamics of housing markets. This effect may partly be of a qualitative and discontinuous nature, which causes market segmentation into submarkets. The question however is, whether the most relevant partitioning criteria is directly related to the transaction price of to other, socioeconomic, demographic and physical features of the location. Two neural network techniques are used for analysing statistical house price data from...

This book contains the description and evaluation of a profound housing system reform constituting part of the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy in the Czech Republic. It addresses two goals: to evaluate housing subsidies (reforms) by application of improved methods of welfare economics and, secondly, to list the main factors explaining the particular outcomes of selected reforms. The author applied methods of welfare economics for an evaluation of housing subsidies...

Large-scale urban development projects aim to create better places in underused or deteriorated areas. For their realization, cooperation between planning authorities and market parties is indispensable. Contracting for Better Places focuses on the development agreements that these parties close. It follows from the relational contract theory that, as the projects evolve over time, these agreements have to promote relational values such as trust and flexibility. This work displays four...

The development of the housing markets in different European metropolitan areas is of high interest for the urban development and the real estate markets, which are moving towards globalisation. The Budapest housing market is an ideal candidate for scrutiny from an institutional and evolutionary perspective due to its fragmented nature: different house types, age categories, price levels and micro-locations are found side by side. This is a case ‘in between’ Eastern and Western settings,...

Improving Institutions for Green Landscapes in Metropolitan Areas investigates how various institutions for green landscapes in metropolitan areas work, which problems hamper them, and how these institutions can be improved. Themes, theories and methods have been selected as a response to the case studies. The following themes were formulated: landscape and institutional developments, the market or government dilemma, the network or hierarchy dilemma, the relation between spatial planning...

The dwelling is a central setting in people’s everyday life. People use their dwelling and residential environment for a large variety of activities and purposes. The Meaning of Activities in the Dwelling and Residential Environment systematically relates activities, settings and meanings to improve the insight into people-environment relations which is called a meaning structure approach. Over 600 people, living in either a city centre, suburban or rural type of residential environment...

'New Instruments in Spatial Planning' addresses the topic of transferring development opportunities between areas in planning practice by a debate between academics, lawyers and planning practitioners at an international planning symposium in Annapolis, MD, USA and the Van Doorne-Habiforum conference on Transferable Development Rights a year later. The idea of transferring development opportunities between areas is more than only the transfer of development rights. It relates more to...

'On the Rationality of Borrowers’ Behaviour' was prompted by two observations: first, mortgage take-up amongst homeowners was fairly divergent across Europe, and second, the fact that this was seen by academic researchers as well as policymakers and financial authorities as an indication of fundamental differences in the risk attitudes of homeowners. Although the time and depth of the cycles differed from one European country to another, mortgage markets have grown in size, expanded in...

The Institutionalisation of European Spatial Planning aims to clarify the enterprise of European spatial planning. The emphasis of the book lies on the need for a better understanding of the process of European integration in general. It particularly points at the emerging middle range theories that used concepts that were showing similarity to those that academics —those writing about planning— were accustomed to, such as networks, discourses and governance. The focus of this book is...

Energy performance policy in the building sector - such as is described by EU Directive known as EPBD - has the aim of reducing energy consumption in buildings. Given the importance of the development of innovations in energy technology, and a transition to a sustainable energy supply system, it is necessary that policy instruments for energy conservation in the building sector stimulate the development and diffusion of innovations. This publication contributes to knowledge about the...

In understanding and explaining the functioning of cities, contemporary urban and regional studies attribute great significance to relationships between cities. This book focuses on relationships between cities in polycentric urban regions (PURs), which are regions containing proximate but distinct cities that are rather similar in size. This book explores whether there are synergies between cities in PURs. In doing so, several widespread assumptions with respect to PURs are questioned. Do...

Urban renewal through the large-scale restructuring of post-war neighbourhoods is a major challenge throughout Europe in the decades ahead. Current urban restructuring programmes in the Netherlands focus on the demolition and replacement of the existing housing stock. The motivation behind this strategy is creating a better social mix between ‘poor’ and ‘better-off’ households, to improve the general quality of the housing stock and to create a financially viable restructuring programme....

According to EC forecasts, if energy efficiency could be increased 1% annually until 2010, two-thirds of the potential energy saving in the EU could be achieved. This would comply with 40% of the EU’s Kyoto obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% on the 1990 level by 2010-12, by cutting 200 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Improving energy efficiency in existing buildings is often considered to be one of the most cost-effective ways of cutting carbon emissions. Current...

Planning from the Bottom up highlights the gap between the official rhetoric and the political reality of democratic decentralisation and bottom-up planning using an in-depth study of the metropolitan planning process in Kolkata, India. The key issue addressed here is how elected officials at different governmental levels, professional planners, and ordinary citizens interact in the process of metropolitan planning, and which players dominate the process. The focus is on the dynamic...

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...

'The Meaning of Dwelling Features. Conceptual and Methodological Issues' relates the research areas of housing preferences and the meaning of a dwelling with each other and with aspects of the means-end approach as applied in marketing research. It results in a conceptual and methodological framework for studying the meaning of preferences for dwelling features. These features are viewed as functional for achieving the goals and values that people pursue. The meaning of dwelling features...

Never were energy use and security of energy supply as high on the international political agendas as they are now. There seems to be a consensus that energy savings and sustainable energy production must have a high priority. Because the energy use in the residential and non-residential sectors account for a large part of the total energy use, new programs are being developed in order to limit the consumption of energy in these sectors and a lot of attention is put into increasing the...

The contributions in 'Performance Measurement in the Dutch Social Rented Sector' address the societal and practical needs of housing associations, in order to develop better instruments for performance measurement. The provision of useful instruments allows for more transparency and thus improved external control over housing associations. At the same time these instruments should benefit the internal control and planning processes of the housing associations. The identification of Key...

The ultimate goal of building and construction — in relation to environmental issues — is to construct in an environmentally neutral way; or, as the Brundtland Report states, to consume in such a way that our children have the same choices that we have. Construction will always be needed, and will always consume resources. But in accordance with the conditions of the Brundtland Report, we should move construction into a direction that does not deplete resources, and does not worsen living...

This publication concerns large-scale urban area development in general, and in particular with gaining an understanding of the role played by global-local interaction in shaping the area development strategies in one particularly explosive urban project, the development of Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. The Pudong development provides an extreme example of a situation in which interaction between global and local forces took place in a location whose boundaries had been closed to the outside...

Urban quality is generally considered increasingly important for urban competitiveness. Nevertheless, large urban redevelopment schemes often fail to provide sufficient quality from a user’s perspective. This study therefore investigates the role of urban quality in large-scale urban redevelopment, which is here elaborated in terms of Richard Florida’s concept of quality of place. In a number of extensive case studies, it focuses on prestigious redevelopment projects around the high-speed...

Human health is a condition influenced by many aspects: genetic predisposition, food and water, lifestyle, age and the physical and social environment. Outdoor hazards penetrate the house and add to the indoor hazards. The physical housing conditions and also occupant behaviour create health hazards. In maintenance policy and renovation projects, the opportunities to reduce health risks and adapt houses to the health needs of households are not used to their full potential. Health criteria...

Herstructurering heeft grote gevolgen voor het aanzien en het functioneren van naoorlogse woonwijken. Sloop, renovatie en nieuwbouw van woningen leiden veelal tot omvangrijke verhuisbewegingen uit, binnen en naar deze wijken. In dit boek nemen we de sociale consequenties van deze verhuisbewegingen en de veranderende bevolkingssamenstelling onder de loep. Wat betekent de verhuizing voor de woonsituatie en de wooncarrií¨re van de vertrekkers, de doorstromers en de nieuwkomers? En hoe kijken...

Dutch housing associations have a market share of about 33% of the entire Dutch housing stock. They spent around 2.8 billion Euros a year on the maintenance of dwellings, of which external suppliers account for approximately 89%. External service suppliers can as such be seen as an extension of the housing associations in fulfilling their public tasks and private objectives. Maintenance service delivery gives an opportunity for high quality interaction with tenants. At the moment...

Sustainable housing construction and management has, to date, been primarily based on an intuitive approach. Numerous measures have been formulated to promote sustainable construction and to reduce the environmental impacts of the built environment. However, little is yet known about the extent of the environmental benefits thereof. Moreover, methods and tools are mainly directed to new construction. This publication makes clear that short-term environmental benefits in sustainable housing...

In the context of the sustainability of housing, the assessment of interventions in the stock is of primary importance. So, one of the first requirements for a decision support tooi in this field is that it can compare renovation to demolition followed by new construction. In this thesis the model of the Eco-costs/Value Ratio is elaborated for housing in a way that it meets this requirement. The elaboration of this approach connects eco-cost estimating to the traditional economic cost...

An academic and policy debate has been running in recent decades on whether
and to what extent travel behaviour is influenced by the built environment.
This dissertation addresses the influence on daily travel distance, chaining
behaviour, car ownership, and car commuting. As cars are the dominant mode
of transport, car travel received most attention. The analyses were based on
a comprehensive dataset collected in the North Wing of the Randstad in the
Netherlands. The...

Devising a workable housing policy in a country with apparently insurmountable housing problems, presents a great challenge. With the help of an award from UN-HABITAT, Zambian authorities attempted to do just this, in a process which is an ideal candidate for scrutiny. This study analyzes the goals, means and instruments that were used to formulate the policy, as well as its planned implementation. It examines whether the policy could have achieved its goals had it been implemented, and...

Residents know exactly what their neighbourhood is like. House-seekers, on the other hand, must find out for themselves about the intangible social quality of neighbourhoods. As a simple rule of thumb, neighbourhood reputation can offer them a assessment of neighbourhood quality. In this research, regression analyses are applied to test whether neighbourhood reputations are being used as a proxy measure for neighbourhood quality in residential mobility choices and establishing the price of...

What is the current role of housing wealth in household retirement strategies across the European Union member states? And could this role be extended? This question is often raised by researchers and policymakers, since governments search for ways to cut pensions expenditure in response to ageing populations and the global financial crisis. Housing wealth could potentially be part of a solution as the retired are often rich in terms of housing wealth. The existing theory shows that...

Historical experience in many Sub-Saharan African countries demonstrates that an alternative approach to conventional land administration methods is required to appropriately secure tenure and administer land rights in customary areas. This book is about dealing with the dynamics of customary tenure and with land governance and institutional capacity issues necessary to implement land administration at the local level. Methods for implementing land administration systems at the local level...

To date, the focus in the field of sustainable building has been on new building design. However, existing residential buildings inflict great environmental burden through three causes: continuous energy consumption, regular building maintenance and replacements.

This publication analyses and compares these three causes of environmental burden and shows that material resources needed for replacements generally have a limited potential to reduce environmental impact. Reducing energy...

Most Western national governments aim to influence individual travel patterns — at least to some degree — through the spatial planning of residential areas. Nevertheless, the extent to which the characteristics of the built environment influence travel behaviour remains the subject of debate among travel behaviour researchers. This work addresses the role of residential-self-selection, an important issue within this debate. Households may not only adjust their travel behaviour to the built...

Residential buildings have continuously improved in energy efficiency, partly as a consequence of the introduction of energy regulations in many countries. Although better thermal properties and systems efficiency have lowered energy consumption for space heating in recent decades, substantial differences in energy consumption in similar dwellings are still being observed. These differences in consumption are thought to be caused by differences in occupancy patterns, by quality of...

West European Housing Systems in a Comparative Perspective gives an overview of the results of almost 20 years of international comparative housing research, carried out by the author and his colleagues at OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment. The articles give evidence of the transition from descriptive analysis to theoretical exploration and the growing relevance of methodology during these years.

The results provide deeper insight into comparative research...

Large housing estates: for some people these three words symbolise all that is wrong in urban planning. Large is wrong, because many people prefer a living surrounding that reflects the human scale. Housing as a single function is wrong, because mixed areas are livelier. And estates are wrong, as these refer to top-down planned areas which the residents themselves have no say in.

Although many such estates function well, others have proved to be in serious problems. The question is...

In hun strategisch voorraadbeleid beschrijven woningcorporaties welke aanpassingen ze in hun woningbezit willen doorvoeren. Tegelijkertijd kan het in de praktijk soms verstandig zijn dat zij van hun beleid afwijken, bijvoorbeeld omdat er nieuwe inzichten zijn, of omdat er beren op de weg komen die je beter kunt mijden. In het proefschrift wordt ingegaan op de vraag hoe het implementatieproces van strategisch voorraadbeleid verloopt. Het bevat uitgebreide casestudies, uitgevoerd bij vier...

Cycling is cheaper, healthier and in urban environments often faster than other transport modes. Nevertheless, even at short distances, many individuals do not cycle. This thesis aims to explain why commuters vary in their decision to bicycle. Results indicate that the individual (day-to-day) choice to commute by bicycle is affected by personal attitudes towards cycling to work, social norms, work situation, weather conditions and trip characteristics. Additionally, this thesis provides...

This study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to explain which factors contribute to a problem-free or problematic functioning of neighbourhoods in general and especially of Dutch neighbourhoods that were built in the first years after World War II. An important part of the book is about the development of measuring instruments. Special attention is given to the development of a risk scale that offers researchers and policymakers the opportunity to distinguish on a...

The book explores the relationship between the characteristics of the welfare state and the characteristics of the housing system (housing policies, housing outcomes and housing market developments) in different European countries. It consists of a theoretical framework, six published articles and a concluding chapter. All six articles use the welfare state regime theory and typology of Esping-Andersen and/or the housing system typology of Kemeny, or at least some aspects of these, as an...

This study discusses ways of measuring and explaining the development of house prices. The goal of the research underpinning this dissertation was to develop a methodological framework for studying these developments. This framework relates, first, to correcting for changes in the composition of dwellings and, second, to the fundamentals of the price development. Using the weighted repeat sales method and sale price appraisal ratio (SPAR) method, house price indexes were developed for the...

Like other West European countries, the Netherlands are facing a growing uneasiness about its changing demographics. It is within this context that animated discussions concerning immigrant neighbourhoods dominate. The general opinion is that living in such neighbourhoods hinders the 'integration' of immigrants into Dutch society. This book contributes to the academic and policy debate by not only examining the effects of ethnic concentration, but also by finding out how people are sorted...

Does the neighbourhood in which people live matter for the resourcefulness of their personal network and thus for their opportunities in life? Do residents of a multi-ethnic ‘problem’ area maintain fewer relationships with fellow residents compared to residents of a homogeneous problem-free neighbourhood? And do ‘diversity-seekers’ who choose to live in a mixed neighbourhood translate their liking for diversity into more mixed networks and more bridging ties? This book brings together key...

In previous years we have seen a recognition of the significant potential that exists for reducing energy use through innovation in residential buildings. This study investigates innovation challenges and identifies opportunities that could lead to a rapid increase in the adoption of highly energy-efficient housing concepts, particularly that of the passive house. To this end, it exemplifies, interprets and develops the innovation adoption theory through an investigation of views and...

In the context of shifting regulatory approaches and changing provision structures in many Western rental housing systems, the notion of competition between social and private rental housing has received increasing attention from practitioners and academic researchers. This thesis explores and theorises the concept of inter-tenure competition in order to advance understanding of what it means in local and national market realities, as well as in business and political practices.

Sub-Saharan Africa is urbanizing rapidly, but most countries lack appropriate tools to manage their urban growth. This creates both risks and opportunities for prospective land holders, resulting in a tangle of insecure land rights and claims under multiple tenure systems. Recently, innovative land tools have been proposed and implemented to formalize land tenure. It is envisaged that tenure security for land holders will increase and in turn contribute to poverty reduction.