Urban restructuring, displaced households and neighbourhood change: Results from three Dutch Cities

Abstract

In most European countries many neighbourhoods were explicitly planned and many dwellings were built in the first three decades after World War II. Housing production was considered necessary because of the postwar housing shortage and a growing number of households. Many of these dwellings were built in relatively large social housing estates, often in green and spacious environments. Although some mix of housing types did exist, large numbers of dwellings were built in rather monotonous apartment complexes and often they were affordable for households with low to medium incomes. Initially these areas were considered to be desirable by the new inhabitants: people moved there, because they liked it (Dekker and Van Kempen 2004).