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In this paper we focus on gaining insight into the residential satisfaction of households near highways, based on survey data collected among 1,225 respondents in the Netherlands living within 1,000 meters from a highway. Ordinal regression was used to study the impact of highway externalities on residential satisfaction. Moreover, we gained first insights into the reactions of people on highway adjustment projects, by studying people's expectations towards residential satisfaction as a consequence of the project with use of a multinomial logistic regression analysis. On average, 85 percent of respondents reported being satisfied with living near a highway. Regarding explanatory characteristics, subjective evaluations of air and noise nuisance and of accessibility are of comparable importance and seem to outperform objective exposure calculations or distance from the highway or access lane in explaining residential satisfaction. Moreover highway interest is directly reflected in a higher satisfaction. However, other factors such as neighborhood design, traffic safety and social cohesion are important as well. People react differently to highway adjustment plans, negative expectations being highly driven by current negative feelings towards nuisance, and positive expectations by personal interest in accessibility and a positive attitude towards cars. An important implication could be the notion that exposure is not the same as perceived nuisance, which may give reason to be cautious when making transportation planning decisions based solely on calculations. In addition, the finding that other (neighborhood) factors are also very important in explaining residential satisfaction is interesting when thinking about compensating for the negative effects of a highway in the neighborhood. Also, the results regarding reactions to an announced highway adjustment project might be used to better adjust the planning process to the characteristics of the residents in the area. Further research is necessary to deepen the results, for example through the addition of other road project locations, interviews and longitudinal data.Keywords: highway infrastructure planning, accessibility, nuisance, residential satisfaction, planned highway adjustment projects. Highlights We studied the impact of negative (nuisance) and positive (accessibility) highway externalities and a highway adjustment project on residential satisfaction near highways.  Perceived nuisance and accessibility influence residential satisfaction, but other neighborhood factors are also important.  Perceptions of accessibility and nuisance outweigh objective measures (exposure levels, distance from highway/accesslane).  Highway users show a higher satisfaction level.  Expectations towards highway adjustment projects are mixed; highway users and people who like driving in particular have more positive expectations, currently hindered people more negative expectations.3

The objectives of this review-based paper were twofold. Firstly, we aimed to explore the need and possibilities for broadening the scope of highway planning by taking account of the residential context, including residential satisfaction. Satisfaction appears to be an interesting, and in our opinion, valuable mediating planning concept between road infrastructure planning and the accompanying external effects on the one hand and household coping strategies on the other. Households living near highway infrastructure are influenced by both positive (i.e. accessibility gains) and negative road-related factors (e.g. noise nuisance and air pollution). Changes in these factors may trigger people to accept the new situation, adjust preferences, try to influence plans and/or even relocate. The second aim was to gain a greater understanding of the influence of both accessibility characteristics and negative externalities on the residential context of households. With respect to context, we make a distinction between residential satisfaction, housing prices and residential relocation. We see changes in residential satisfaction as a potential early predictor of opposition to plans, not only from active opposers but also from the more 'silent majority', and as a predictor of housing price changes and residential migration. Insights into residential satisfaction around highways may help transportation planners to relieve locational stress and may also prevent protests and relocations. Our literature review indicated that households prefer to live close to highways to benefit from high regional accessibility, but do not want to contend with the nuisances. This is also reflected in property values. However, the literature appears to put more emphasis on studying the impact of (regional) accessibility and externalities on location behaviour than on residential satisfaction. Because of the added value that the concept of residential satisfaction may provide in road planning, and the limited scientific insights, it is important to gain greater insight into how residential satisfaction is influenced by negative and positive externalities and into how residential satisfaction changes over time-from the stage when new road projects are discussed through to concrete planning, realization and the period after completion. Moreover, it would be worthwhile to gain a deeper understanding of the extent to which house prices, location behaviour and residential satisfaction near highways interrelate.

Despite increased efforts to actively consult residents in highway infrastructure planning to i.a. increase acceptance of plans, the involvement of most residents is passive and limited to receiving information. By means of multivariate regression analysis, this paper explores the role of governmental information provision in residents' responses towards highway project proposals, measured by the expected change in residential satisfaction i.e. the match between housing needs and conditions, as a consequence of those projects. We also pay specific attention to permeability of and satisfaction with information provided. The analyses are based on questionnaire data collected among 484 residents living close to two announced plans for highway adjustment in the Netherlands.We found indications that residents who received information from a governmental project team are more satisfied with information compared to residents who only received information from other sources. In its turn, a higher level of information satisfaction was associated with more positive expectations with regard to changes in their residential satisfaction, although other contextual variables were also explanatory. Receiving information from the project team was mainly associated with a closer residential proximity to the highway where project team distribution efforts were also more intensive. However, we observed clear personal and project-specific differences in the number of information sources received and the likelihood to attend information meetings. The latter was also associated with more negative expectations towards residential satisfaction change. This indicates a clear difference in characteristics between the more actively involved group and the silent majority.An important implication of this study is that information provided by project teams seems to increase acceptance of plans, via its contribution to residents' information satisfaction. Nevertheless, only a minority of residents appeared satisfied with the information they received. Therefore, it seems worthwhile for planning agencies to pay more attention to people who currently appear less satisfied with the information provided. These include older residents, residents with fewer social contacts and families with children. In addition, the results indicate clear differences in expected satisfaction change between more actively and more passively involved residents. This may be a reason for governments to not only focus on opinions grasped from information meetings, but to specifically take into account the opinions of the more passive 'silent' majority.

The perception of highway nuisance i.e. noises, air pollution and barrier-effects, is associated with negative effects on health and quality of life. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the development of highway nuisance perception among residents. Interviews were conducted with residents in 32 households living along the Southern Ring Road, a highway which crosses various neighbourhoods in the city of Groningen, the Netherlands.Various themes emerged from the interviews which were important in the development of residents' perceptions of highway nuisance. For example, our interviews showed that residents who had not explicitly chosen to live next to a highway were more acutely affected by the negative externalities of that highway later. Perceived environmental changes, often due to governmental actions such as new/extended noise barriers, removal of trees and newly constructed buildings causing noise reflection, also played a role in the interviewees' development of nuisance perception. In addition, the interviewees indicated that expectations about future highway developments influenced their current perception of highway nuisance: described as anticipation effects. Interviewees also indicated that recent information about the potentially harmful effects of air pollution increased their concerns about living near the highway. A final theme discussed were differences in the extent to which residents were able to develop coping strategies to reduce the amount of highway nuisance perception.The participants' experiences indicate the importance of further integration between the planning of highway infrastructure and the broader environment in order to reduce nuisance perceptions and improve residential quality near highways.

This study investigates the impacts of new highway development from a residents' perspective. Data were collected by questionnaire in two residential areas, Son and Uden, both situated along the new A50 highway in the Netherlands. The objectives of this study are: 1) to analyse the extent to which highway development has impacted the residents' selfreported residential satisfaction through the use of Structural Equation Modeling, and 2) to explore residential self-selection, by comparing characteristics of the original population with those who have relocated into the area during and after highway development using Multinomial Logistic Regression. The results indicate that a small majority of the residents perceived an increase in residential satisfaction due to the highway development. Living in the sampled area in Son (compared to Uden), living on close proximity to the A50 highway, having a low preference for car accessibility, and a strong preference for environmental quality were negatively associated with the change in residential satisfaction, mostly via a negative association with the perceived change in liveability or accessibility. The findings of our second analysis show that residents who had relocated into the area after the highway development have a slightly more 'highway-oriented' profile than the original population, i.e. a marginally higher preference for car accessibility and lower preference for environmental quality. The study sheds light on the importance of accounting for the perceptions of the wider residential population and reveals how the impacts of new highway development differ between and within residential areas.

This study investigates how highway nuisances are traded off against accessibility gains and other residential characteristics in the moving intentions of people living near highways. It studies a potential mediating role for residential satisfaction and potential mitigating relationships with highway nuisance perceptions. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test a proposed framework based on survey data collected from 1220 respondents living within 1000 m from a highway in the Netherlands.The results show that higher levels of perceived highway nuisances are associated with increased intentions to move, mediated by lower residential satisfaction. However, better perceived accessibility was not associated with either lower moving intentions or lower highway nuisance perception. Highway usage/interest and other residential characteristicssuch as satisfaction with buildings, traffic safety, and amount of greenery -seem to countervail perceived highway nuisances as they reduce moving intentions and reduce highway nuisance perception. Finally, the results show that some groups -for example home ownerswere less inclined to move (direct effect), independently of their residential satisfaction.From a practical perspective, a more inclusive perspective on highway planning, which accounts for accessibility and other residential characteristics as potential compensators and mitigators for highway nuisances, would be effective to reduce residential stress which could prevent protest and consequent cost overruns of projects.

It is well-known that those with lower levels of education and school dropouts are less successful in the labour market. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the determinants to continue in education to at least the minimum level defined by the Lisbon Treaty 2000, the so-called starting qualification. We focus especially on the impact of the regional labour market situation and possible spill-over effects due to the presence of higher educated. In addition to that we analyze the differences in successfully finding a job between those who do and those who do not have obtained a starting qualification. We find that regional factors have a significant impact on the decision to (not) continue education and on the chance to get a job. The most striking result we found is that a prosperous regional labor market situation stimulates individuals to accept a job and dropout of school before they reach the level of the start-qualification. They seem to prefer the short term goal of earning money above an investment in schooling of which the benefits will occur in the future. We find evidence for positive spill-overs between higher and lower educated, but no evidence for negative crowding out effects. Nevertheless, personal aspects and school/education satisfaction are found to be at least as relevant in school continuation decisions and labour market outcomes of low educated school-leavers. Keywords Human capital • Low educated • Regional labour market JEL Classification C35 • I20 • J21 • J31 B Arjen Edzes