The attraction of urban cores: Densification in Dutch city centres

Abstract

Urban growth is typically considered a process of expansion. As population grows and transport costs decrease urban density gradients are expected to gradually flatten. This is a basic feature of cities, explained by urban economic models and empirically supported by a plethora of studies about urban density development from all over the world. However, additional forces, such as changes in demographic composition and locational preferences of the urban population acting at local levels, may counteract the flattening tendency of urban gradients. In this paper, we suggest a methodology to test the impact of local density changes on urban gradients, looking at spatio-temporal developments in terms of housing and population. Using highly detailed data on individual housing units and inhabitants in major Dutch cities, we first assess and compare urban density gradients during the period 2000–2017. In all the analysed Dutch cities, both dwelling and population density gradients are becoming steeper over time, contradicting standard predictions from urban economic literature and empirical reports worldwide. The observed trend of steepening urban gradients is partly explained by the presence of historical monuments and urban amenities.

Uncovering temporal changes in Europe’s population density patterns using a data fusion approach

“…Without rescaling, the curves cannot be compared across x and y axes, as more populous cities tend to be denser and extend over a larger geographical area to accommodate the extra population 59 . Consistent with recent literature [59][60][61] , nighttime population densities are highest at or nearby the city center and then decay with increasing distance from the city center, fairly well described with a negative (inverse) power law function. Daytime population densities show a similar profile but densities at the city center are significantly higher than at nighttime and descend more abruptly.…”

“Passive” Ecological Gentrification Triggered by the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…The observation that the ranking of this subset also increases consistently during both periods is related to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic did not change the fundamental urban development trends. In simple words, despite all the observed urban dynamic changes (described extensively in Section 2), the attraction of urban cores is still one of the most influential forces in the city (Broitman & Koomen, 2020).…”

Accessibility to and Availability of Urban Green Spaces (UGS) to Support Health and Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic—The Case of Bologna

“…This also means that improving access to or increasing the number of UGSs in densely populated urban areas with targeted regeneration intervention should be sought wherever possible, even with temporary interventions and solutions; this highlights the added value of considering the hierarchy of different UGSs in terms of different buffer zones as a simple proxy for their attractiveness. Acknowledging the densification tendencies in cities in western countries [56], and that large UGSs are a limited resource in compact cities, careful decisions should be made over such areas, with a view to protecting and enhancing them. By this token, a review by Ekkel et al, 2017 [10], acknowledged that cumulative opportunities matter in terms of health-related benefits, requiring accessibility to different UGS sizes and recognizing that bigger UGSs can provide wider health benefits.…”