Social effects of urban restructuring: a case study in Amsterdam and Utrecht, the Netherlands

Abstract

In the Netherlands, urban restructuring has been a major policy since 1997. Its principal aim is to improve neighbourhoods by demolishing or upgrading low-rent social dwellings and building more expensive rental or owner occupied units. A fundamental idea underlying this policy is to break up the physical and social monotony of urban areas and to achieve a mixed population in terms of income. The consequence of this new mix should be that people interact better and fully enjoy all kinds of facilities in the restructured area. This paper addresses the question of whether this new policy has indeed had these effects. The focus point is the role of the neighbourhood, featuring changes for traditional inhabitants while accommodating the newcomers. Do they use the area? Are their social contacts made there? Or can the restructured area be seen as a dormitory, where the residents have no contact with other people in the immediate environment? The paper is based on a fieldwork study undertaken in the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Lessons for future policies of urban restructuring are formulated.

Same Neighbourhood … Different Views? A Confrontation of Internal and External Neighbourhood Reputations

“…Displacement of residents can also result in the break down of important social structures in neighbourhoods because many of the existing residents are not able to return to their neighbourhood (Clampet-Lundquist, 2004). The resulting 'forced' new mix of residents can result in tension between old and new residents and to a (further) decline of social cohesion (Van Beckhoven and Van Kempen, 2003;Joseph et al, 2007).…”

Minority Ethnic Groups in the Dutch Housing Market: Spatial Segregation, Relocation Dynamics and Housing Policy

“…However, several studies in the Netherlands (e.g. Dekker & Bolt, 2005;Van Beckhoven & Van Kempen, 2003), the UK (e.g. Atkinson & Kintrea, 2000;Bramley & Morgan, 2003), and the US (e.g.…”

Social cohesion, social mix, and urban policies in the Netherlands

“…1 Most studies on neighbourhood diversification examine the degree of social interaction between several groups within the neighbourhood (see Atkinson 2005;Joseph et al 2007;Kleinhans 2004 for an overview). Many researchers have found that renters and owneroccupiers have totally different activity patterns and hardy any contact with each other (see, e.g., Jupp 1999;Van Beckhoven and Van Kempen 2003;Arthurson 2007). In the United States in particular it has been found that there is almost no interaction between different income groups in mixed neighbourhoods (see, e.g., Rosenbaum et al 1998;Popkin et al 2002).…”