On Priority and Progress: Forced Residential Relocation and Housing Chances in Haaglanden, the Netherlands

Abstract

There is a wide interest in the effects of forced relocation in the context of urban restructuring. This interest is also inspired by debates on gentrification and displacement. The prevailing idea is that the lowest income groups particularly suffer from displacement in terms of their housing quality and increased rents. In addition, increasing proportions of forced movers are assumed to harm the housing opportunities of other house seekers, while competing within the social rented sector. Although several studies deal with the consequences of forced relocation, a broader perspective on housing chances is currently lacking. Moreover, most studies are qualitative, whereas a larger-scale quantitative analysis is needed to test assumptions mentioned above. This paper addresses these matters by analysing housing allocation data of the Haaglanden in the Netherlands and two cross-sectional surveys among forced movers in the region's central city, The Hague. Findings indicate that housing chances for both forced and regular house seekers have not declined substantially since 2000. Moreover, most forced movers experienced dwelling progress, partly thanks to the design of the housing allocation model. However, low-educated, as well as middle- and higher-income households less often report dwelling progress. Explanations for these findings are provided.

Keywords:

• Displacement
• forced relocation
• social housing
• dwelling progress
• urban restructuring
• The Netherlands

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial assistance of the Dutch government through the Habiforum Program Innovative Land Use and Delft University of Technology through the Delft Centre for Sustainable Urban Areas. They are also indebted to the anonymous referees for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.