Housing and Social Fragmentation in the Netherlands

The role of housing policy has been largely ignored in the debate on social fragmentation in Western societies. Only in Great Britain has this aspect attained prominence on the research agenda. Investigations there have shown that the mode of housing provision mitigates the effects of social fragmen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Housing studies 2000-07, Vol.15 (4), p.505-531
Main Authors: Van Kempen, Ronald, Schutjens, Veronique A.J.M., Van Weesep, Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Great Britain
Housing
Housing conditions
Housing developments
Housing Policy
Housing rehabilitation
Influences
Living Conditions
Minority & ethnic groups
Netherlands
Policy Reform
Social fragmentation
Social Inequality
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Summary:The role of housing policy has been largely ignored in the debate on social fragmentation in Western societies. Only in Great Britain has this aspect attained prominence on the research agenda. Investigations there have shown that the mode of housing provision mitigates the effects of social fragmentation. Research elsewhere might help to clarify how and why the housing market amplifies or diminishes these effects. The case of the Netherlands is particularly illuminating because of the drastic housing policy reforms made there in recent years, allowing for a before-and-after assessment. This paper traces the effects of policy - and its reforms - on the range of housing conditions. In addition to dealing with the country as a whole, it investigates the changes in cities because of the specific nature of the urban housing stock. The analysis of how the housing conditions of various population categories changed during the period leading up to and following the announcement of the housing reforms of 1989 constitutes the core of the paper. The results show that housing conditions were already changing in the direction of the new policy aims during the 1980s. This casts doubt on the autonomous contribution of housing policy to changing housing conditions. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of these results.
ISSN:0267-3037
1466-1810
DOI:10.1080/02673030050081087