The Hague

Towards undivided cities

in Western Europe

N ew challenges for urban policy

Part 1 the Hague

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-TOW ARDS UNDIVIDED elTIES IN WESTERN

EUROPE

New challenges for urban policy

PART I THE HAGUE

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Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment

The city of the Hague

The Netherlands Graduate School of Housing and Urban Research Delft University of Technology OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

University of Amsterdam Amsterdam Study Centre for the Metropolitan Environment

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-TOW ARDS UNDIVIDED elTIES IN WESTERN

EUROPE

Newehallenges for urban poliey

PART I THE HAGUE

H.M. Kruythoff B. Baart W. van Bogerijen H. Priemus with 1. den Draak

The series Towards undivided eities in Western Europe. New challenges for urban policy is published by:

Delft University Press Mekelweg 4

2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands Phone +31 152783254 Fax +31 15278 1661

CIP-GEGEVENS KONINKLIJKE BmLIOTHEEK, DEN HAAG

Kruythoff, H.M.

The Hague / H.M. Kruythoff, B. Baart, W. van Bogerijen, H. Priemus, with J. den Draak - Delft: Delft University Press. - Ill. - (Towards undivided cities in Western Europe. New challenges for urban policy / OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies, ISSN 1387-4888 : 1)

ISBN 90-407-1539-4 NUGI 655

Trefw. : undivided cities , Western Europe , the Hague

Copyright 1997 by OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means, without written permission from the publisher: Delft University

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-TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

1 2 3 FRAMEWORK . .. . ... . l.1 l.2 l.3 Spotlight on segregation . . . . . . . . . . The research objectives and problematic Segregation defined .. .. . . .. .

IMPENDING SEGREGATION IN DUTCH CITIES

1 2 4

7 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.2 Structural changes in the 1970s and 1980s . . . . 7 2.3 The 1990s: new housing and spatial planning policy . 8

2.4 Perceived need to restructure urban districts 10

2.5 Historical development of spatial concentration in the Hague 11

SEGREGATION IN THE HAGUE 3.1 Introduction .. . .. . .. . . . 3.2 Districts in the Hague .. . . .

3.2.1 Division of the Hague and characteristics of districts 3.2.2 Profile of the housing stock and population of the Hague . 3.3 Ethnic identity

3.3.1 Introduction . 3.3.2 Nationalities . . 3.3.3 Ethnic groups . . .

3.4 The unemployed and other economically inactive persons 3.5 Income . . . .

3.5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5.2 Rich and poor in the Hague .. .. . . .. .. .. .. . 3.5.3 The rich get richer and the poor get poorer: toward a typology

of districts in the Hague .. . . .. ... . . 3.6 District types: profiles of residents and dwelling stock 3.7 Accumulation of problems in the Hague districts? 3.8 The Hague and the city region of Haaglanden 3.8.1 Introduction . . . 15 15 16 16 19 23 23 23 25 29 35 35 36 42 48 49 55 55

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3.8.3 The unemployed and other eeonomieally inaetive persons 60

3.8.4 Incorne: rieh and poor in the region of Haaglanden . . . . 62

3.9 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

BIG CITY POLICY AND MINORITY POLICY AIMED AT THE UNDIVIDED CITY .. .. .. . . .. . .. . . .. .. .. . . ... . 75

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

4.2 Big City Policy: the Big Four eovenant . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 77

4.3 Themes in the Big City Poliey: specifieations for the Hague . . . 81

4.4 National policy on ethnic minorities . . . .. .. .. . . 85

4.4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

4.4.2 General aspects of poliey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

4.4.3 Several faeets of seetoral poliey . . . . . . . . . .. 87

4.5 Minority poliey in the Hague . . . .. . .. . . . .. . . 89

4.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

5 URBAN RESTRUCTURING: A MAJOR HOUSING POLICY IN-STRUMENT TO COMBAT SEGREGATION .. . . .. . . 93

5.1 A housing policy strategy: redifferentiation of the urban dwelling stock .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

5.2 Instrurnents of redifferentiation of the dwelling stock . . . .. 95

5.3 Municipal and regional housing poliey versus segregation .. . . 96

5.4 Housing poliey instrurnents used in the Hague and Haaglanden . 99 5.5 Financial means for urban restrueturing .. .. . .. .. .. . . 103

5.6 Toward a redifferentiation of the dwelling stock: completed and planned new construction projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

5.7 Effects of new construction in old districts: two projects . . 110

5.8 Dilemmas . . . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . 114

REFERENCES 117 APPENDIX I ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE HAGDE AT DISTRICT LEVEL . 125 APPENDIX 11 ECONOMICALL Y INACTIVE PERSONS IN THE HAGDE AT DISTRICT LEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

APPENDIX III

INCOME ANALYSES IN THE HAGDE ON DISTRICT LEVEL 139

APPENDIX IV

APPENDIX V

ECONOMICALLY INACTIVE PERSONS IN TUE MUNICIPALITIES

OF UAAGLANDEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

APPENDIX VI

UOUSEUOLD INCOME IN TUE MUNICIPALITIES OF UAAGLANDEN 159 APPENDIX VII

DISTRICT INVESTMENT PLANS TO BE DEVELOPED FOR TUE

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Backgrounds

Ever since the eighties, the Dutch government --both at the national and the local level-- has been wary of the emergence of deprived areas in the big cities. Since the early nineties, the looming possibility of a division between rich and po or areas has been increasingly mentioned in connection with the provision of housing. Housing has been Iinked to the emergence of differences between neighborhoods. Now, housing is also Iinked to a solution, insofar as these differences constitute aproblem. Housing has played a role in the fate of districts that are on the brink of falling into a downward spiral. That role has various aspects. One of these is historical: the construction of large numbers of uniform dwellings in monotonous districts. These were built in the social rented sector in the first two or three decades after the Second World War. At the time, it was of cardinal importance to alleviate the acute housing shortage. Most of these dwellings were clustered in large-scale urban extensions. By now, however, those dwellings are obsolete. In the meantime, the districts have slipped down the hierarchy of residential areas. It is these districts in particular that are being closely scrutinized by the authorities.

That being said, there is another way of looking at poor districts. A large share of the prewar districts that have long been seen as areas requiring extra attention still serve a crucial function. They are the most prominent safety net for households languishing on the bottom rungs of society. The urban renewal effort --which, incidentally, is far from complete-- has hardly altered the situation.

Another role that has been ascribed to housing policy in the emergence of poor districts is the policy known as the balanced distribution of the housing stock. This policy forms an incentive to households with a relatively low income to move into inexpensive dwellings. In fact, the members of the focal group of housing people do seem to comply with this policy more and more. As a consequence, the pluriform socioeconomic profile that had been created by the mismatch of housing and income in neighborhoods with predominantly inexpensive dwellings has been ameliorated. The emergence of income districts is accelerated by the building programs in extension areas just outside the city. With at least 70 percent of their dwellings being relatively expensive, these areas are mainly intended for people filtering upwards and moving out of the city.

engender a greater socioeconomie differentiation among the residents. The means to that end is to give the one-sided districts a wider range of dwellings. Concretely, this means building more expensive dwellings in inexpensive districts, and more inexpensive units in the relatively expensive areas.

The idea that problems may arise when (too) many low-income households live close together has become widely accepted, and not without reason. Many of the districts that fit this pattern were originally intended for low-income groups, previously ca lied the working classes. More and more frequently, however, the households with the lowest incomes are no longer working people. Low-income groups have become synonymous with marginalized groups. These are the chroni-cally unemployed and the disabled; together, these groups fall under the heading of the disadvantaged. They also risk missing the boat in a social sense as weil. They do not make the right connections in terms of educational opportunities, nor do they participate enough in the institutions of civil society. A disproportionately large share of these groups are not indigenous Duteh. There is a risk that tensions may arise between population groups. Or people might take recourse to socially deviant activities such as undocumented work and crime. These effects cause concern about the emergence of deprived areas. It is thoroughly understood that housing instru -ments alone cannot remedy the situation. A range of policy measures, which jointly form the big-city policy, have been in place since 1994. They are intended to keep undesired situations from arising in the cities and to combat such problems should they occur. At present (as of 1997), this policy works in tandem with the restructu-ring policy. The big-city policy is aimed at revitalizing eities, particularly those urban areas that need the most help. The highest priority is to help the residents (back) into the workforce. Aside from that, there are other aims too. These mainly concern participation in civil society and Iivability and public safety in the neighbor-hood. A third track for the effort to counter segregation is minority policy. Already in place since the early eighties, this policy is primarily geared to the rapid integration of foreign-born pers ons into Dutch society.

Context and objective of the study

The problem with (potentially) deprived areas in big cities is certainly not a typically Dutch one. Other eities in Europe and elsewhere have also encountered this problem, some even to a greater degree. In other places, too, policy is enforced to

keep the contrasts between neighborhoods and among population groups from getting out of hand.

The municipality of the Hague and the Ministry of Housing (VROM) have jointly commissioned an investigation of the extent to which segregation occurs in a number of European eities and what policy measures are being taken to counter it. The aim of this initiative is to see what lessons the Netherlands can learn from the experiences of other countries, particularly from those nearby.

In this document, we report on the investigation into the Dutch situation. The Hague and its city region of Haaglanden serve as a case study. The situation in five other European eities and their agglomerations --Barcelona, Birmingham, Brussels, Frankfurt and LilIe-- has also been studied and is reported in the next issues of this series. A comparative analysis will be presented in part 7. Those

studies were a collaborative effort of OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies (Delft University of Technology) and AME Amsterdam Study Centre for the Metropolitan Environment at the University of Amsterdam. The investigations revolve around the following questions: To what extent does segrega-tion occur within the city and between the city and its hinterland? Which policies do central and LocaL governments carry out to prevent or combat segregation ?

In the present study, segregation is understood as the incidence of large differences between areas in the share of the specific population groups residing there. Two levels of scale are distinguished. One is the district within the city. The other is the city within the region. We distinguish population groups according to characteristics that are associated with the (potential) occurrence of problems, namely ethnicity, unemployment, and income. These characteristics are the core variables of the investigation. Research in the Netherlands and abroad has demonstrated that when large spatial concentrations of certain categories occur simultaneously, a seedbed is created for the accumulation of problems. These problems are not only material in nature. They also lie in the social and psychological realms. Nevertheless, in the present study, we consider income to be the key indicator. Besides identifying segregation tendencies, the studies also give an overview of the policy that is used to combat it. Where possible, the effects of that policy are evaluated as weIl.

The contactpersons in other countries were asked to respond to the following research questions:

1. Which genera I economie and demographic developments are involved in the rise of segregation and the effort to combat it? What is the structure of the welfare state, and to what extent has it changed recently?

2. To what extent is segregation experienced as a problem by policy-makers at the national, regional, and local level? How does the perception of segregati-on as a problem develop?

3. To what extent does segregation in a socioeconomie and ethnic sense occur within the city and between the city and its hinterland? How does the phenomenon of segregation develop at the local and the regional level? 4. Which policy is pursued at the national, regional, and local level to combat

segregation? To what extent do the policy-makers use instruments such as reinforcement of the economie structure, schooling, promotion of employ-ment, spatial planning and urban revitalization? What effects do these instruments have?

5. Which specific instruments of housing policy are implemented in the fight against segregation? What are the (anticipated) outcomes of that effort? In broad strokes, these questions also provide the guidelines for the study in (the region of) the Hague. The first section of this summary expands on the first two research questions. In the subsequent sections, we treat these questions in greater depth.

History: structural changes in the basis of segregation (Research Question 1 and 2)

Here, we sketch very briefly some changes that have occurred since the Second World War. These events, which have been described repeatedly, led to the regrouping of segments of the population.

The fifties and sixties: Reconstruction, large-scale extension areas appear, level of affluence rises, the suburbanization of higher- and middle-income groups begins, the influx of foreign labor from Southern Europe and North Africa starts up, the welfare state takes root.

The seventies: Mechanization and automation emerge, jobs are lost in industry, economie activities move to suburban locations, the service sector expands offering less-favorable conditions for people with a low level of education, the economy goes into recession, foreign immigration rises due to family reunification, the influx of citizens of the commonwealth (Surinam) grows explosively, the growth-center policy is pursued, the provision of social services is expanded.

The eighties: In the first years, the economy is in recession, the influx of immigrants from the Netherlands Antilles increases alongside the ongoing flows of immigrants, the tension builds up between the costs of social services and social housing on the one hand and the available resources on the other, more attention is given to the city while suburbanization is slowed down further, economie recovery sets in.

The nineties: Housing shifts from the social to the commercial sector, more attention is given to the negative effects on the environment and to mobility, VINEX locations are designated for urban expansion in and near urban areas, concern arises about increasing segregation as the result of the developments mentioned above, policy is focused on the big cities and restructuring, the influx of asylum-seekers from Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa increases, the traditional flows of immigration diminish.

The Hague has had to deal with all the developments summarized above. The (impending) division of the city of the Hague can be traeed back to the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is associated with the natural geological boundary that crosses the city between the sandy soils and the expanses of peat. The affluent part of the royal city settled on the sandy soils, which formed an attractive landscape. The working class, the small shopkeepers and the servants --all of whom provided the necessary support for the courtly Iifestyle-- settled the less-attractive peat lands, which were eventually the urban renewal areas. The postwar extensions on the southwest side of the city were also built on peat. Suburbanization took place along similar Iines, with one group occupying the sandy ridges and another group the lowlands. Wassenaar is a case in point; sited on higher ground, it is the quintessen-ti al outpost for the elite. When the populaquintessen-tion at large began to move to the suburbs in great numbers, Zoetermeer --which lies in the peaty lowlands-- was designated as the location to receive this flow. Moreover , even now the relative deconcentration of employment continues; while the Hague loses jobs, places in the region are

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-gaining jobs. At the same time, the reg ion is losing employment to the rest of the country.

Segregation in the Hague (Research Question 3)

The 40 districts that the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has counted in the Hague may be roughly divided into four categories. These are the prewar urban renewal districts, the prewar elite neighborhoods, the early-postwar large-scale urban extension areas, and all other areas. Research has been done on segregation in the city, focused on the district level. The phenomenon has been charted in terms of three general characteristics, namely ethnicity, participation in the labor market, and income. Available statistica 1 material was used to determine the share of each population category in each of the districts. The development over the past several years was also determined where the material permitted. In addition, the segregati-on index was used to determine the degree of segregatisegregati-on in each district. That measure can accept va lues from zero to 100. It tells which percentage of a given category would have to move in order to achieve a proportional distribution of that group across all districts.

Housing tenure classes are strongly concentrated in the Hague. The segregation index for the social rented sector is 50. But the owner-occupied sector is also locally concentrated, though to alesser degree than social rented housing. With such a "segregated" dwelling stock, one might expect population groups to be segregated as weil.

As it tums out, the segregation of ethnic groups is much stronger than that of population categories defined according to criteria of socioeconomic deprivation, such as low income or unemployment. The segregation index for the largest non-indigenous groups in the Hague is extremely high. The index is 51 for Turks and 47 for Moroccans. At 36, it is somewhat lower for people from Surinam, the Antilles, or Aruba. Indigenous Dutch people are also fairly segregated. At 28, their index value is higher than that found for people from Southem Europe or other non- industrialized countries.

The largest concentrations of ethnic groups that are included in the target groups of minority policy are found in the traditional prewar urban renewal areas. In Schilderswijk and Transvaalkwartier in particular, the share of indigenous Dutch households has been reduced to a small minority (respectively 21 and 26 percent). High percentages of people from other industrialized (that is, rich) countries are found in the Hague's better neighborhoods. For instance, they live in Benoorden-hout, Archipelbuurt, and DuttendelIVan Stolkplein/Zorgvliet. Percentages of the three large st non-indigenous groups in the early-postwar areas of the Hague South-west hover around the ave rage for the Hague. These groups consist of Turks, Moroccans, and people from countries of the Dutch commonwealth.

In terms of participation in the labor market, there is less segregation by population category than by ethnic background. Taken together, people who are out of work and those who are on welfare had a segregation index of 29 in 1994. That value

had decreased slightly since 1989. There are unusually high concentrations of people out of work in two urban renewal areas, namely Schilderswijk and Transvaal-kwartier (where more than 20 percent are unemployed). These areas also have the city's highe st concentration of non-indigenous households. lt should be kept in mind, however, that unemployment is high in the entire urban renewal area. On the other hand, there are districts in the Hague where unemployment is virtually non-existent. The rate of unemployment in the early-postwar districts of the Hague Southwest is about average for the city as a whoie. Between 1989 and 1994, overall unemployment deciined slightly in the Hague. Unemployment deciined to a much greater degree in a number of districts, namely Benoordenhout, Vogelwijk and Bohemen, Meer en Bos, and Kijkduin. These are places where unemployment was already low. The rate of unemployment also deciined in Schilderswijk, though the number of people out of work remained extremely high. Otherwise, the high rates in the urban renewal area remained reasonably stabie. In the early-postwar districts of the Hague Southwest, the rise in unemployment was above average. It was steep in a few districts where unemployment had been very low, though it remained below average for the Hague. The deciine in segregation may be explained by the convergence of the urban renewal areas, on one side of the city, and the Hague Southwest and several other districts on the other side. The physical gap between these areas was gradually ciosing.

The segregation of retired persons receiving social security payments (AOW) increased over the period 1989-1994. But this graying trend was not observed in the districts where unemployment was on the rise. In contrast, the "de-graying" (or rejuvenation) that is observed in the Hague as a whole persisted in some districts,

even picking up speed. This is the case in the deprived area known as Groente- en Fruitmarkt. The segregation of people receiving work-disability benefits (WAO) also rose between 1989 and 1994. The increased concentration of WAO benefits does not parallel the spatial concentration of AOW recipients, in certain districts however.

Furthermore, a large number of districts in the Hague prove to lag behind the rest of the city in terms of income level and income growth (figure 1). In addition,

there are many districts where both the level and growth of income are actually higher than average for the city. It is striking that the highest income ciass is most strongly concentrated in the city; it appears that th is tendency is increasing.

Districts of both kinds form almost completely contiguous areas and are thus virtually separated in a spatial sense. The area lagging behind consists of the largest part of the urban renewal area and the postwar districts of the Hague Southwest.

This picture of the Hague gives some refinement of the outcome of previous research. Specifically, the Ministry of Housing (VROM) commissioned a study of the spatial concentration of poverty (Vogelzang, 1996). In light of the development of the segregation index, that study documented a decline in the concentration of people living at subsistence level (defined as the social minimum). In the Hague, there seems to be a process of income divergence rather than convergence between parts of the city. The gap between their income positions seems to be growing

rath-Figure 1 Types of districts in the Hague according to income level (1994) and income development (1989-1994): lagging districts, forerun-ners and alternating districts

*

Type of district: Alternating districts

Income and growth higher than average Income and growth lower than average Toa tew observations

Souree: CBS Regional Income Survey 1994, processed by the municipality of the HagueIDSO/Wo

-nen/B&O.

er than shrinking. Obviously, the historical division between the sandy uplands and the peaty lowlands is a persistent and long-winded player.

Segregation in the Haaglanden region (Research Question 3)

At the regional level, segregation has been observed between the more urbanized area (comprising the six largest municipalities) and the smaller municipalities. The concentration of the largest ethnic groups and of unemployed persons, however, was most c1early observed in the Hague. The segregation of ethnic groups at the regional level seems to decline as more and more non-indigenous groups find their way to other municipalities. In moving, each group shows its own preference for a location. Turks prefer to move to Delft. Moroccans move to a few municipalities in the Westland area. And Zoetermeer is the preferred destination for people from

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-Over the past several years, the segregation has lessened between economi-cally inactive persons and working people. This applies to unemployed persons and welfare recipients as weil as to those on work disability benefits and people living on a pension.

On average, incomes in the rest of the area of Haaglanden are 24 percent higher than in the Hague. Besides the Hague, the city of Delft is also below the regional average. Wassenaar is the undisputed leader, and Nootdorp is a close second. At the regional level, the degree of segregation is lower than at the level of the city. This masks the major differences within the dominant city of the Hague.

The degree of segregation by income level rises when we distinguish between districts in three positions. One includes districts lagging far behind (an area with twice as many inhabitants as Delft or one and a half times as many as Zoetermeer).

The second includes those running ahead. And the third position is filled by all remaining districts. The districts in the first category differ greatly from the municipalities with the most favorable position. The income gap between those districts and the region is obvious, both in terms of current level and growth rate. The advance group (places where income is above average on both counts) consists of Leidschendam, Nootdorp, Voorburg, Wassenaar, and the districts in the Hague that fall into the forerunner type. Although the income level is above ave rage in a large number of municipalities, those places have stagnated --or at least threaten to fall behind-- in terms of income growth.

Big-City Policy (Research Question 4)

The big-city policy addresses the deteriorating economic vitality of city. It attacks the decline in Iivability and public safety that affects certain parts of the city. In 1995, the state signed two covenants, one with the four big cities (the G4) and one with 15 middle-sized eities. The objective of big-city policy goes beyond the need to combat segregation. Nevertheless, deprived neighborhoods are explicitly given speeial attention. The covenant distinguishes five fields of action: Work, Educati-on, Safety, Care, and Livability. It stipulates concrete measures to be taken in each of these fields. A comprehensive approach is taken jointly by the state and the munieipalities in question. But the concerted effort also includes residents, the private sector, and civil organizations. The results are supposed to be both visible and measurable. The best way to achieve these aims is through planning focused on an area.

One key measure under the heading of Work is the introduction of the so-called Melkert jobs (Melkert is the name of the minister of Social Affairs and Employ-ment). These jobs are to be created by municipalities and organizations. The applicants must have been out of work for at least one year and be living on welfare benefits. Melkert jobs are deployed in the fields of Livability and Safety in problem districts. In addition, Melkert jobs are created in the field of Care. It is interesting to note that "opportunity zones" can be created within the action field of Work. Companies that locate in an opportunity zone have a relative advantage over firms with premises elsewhere. The creation of opportunity zones is still in an

experimen-~

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-tal stage. But there are more ways to provide impetus to the urban economy. These include subsidies for projects such as the construction of business parks and industri-al plants within the city. Another way is to promote innovative entrepreneurship.

Schooling is yet another pillar of the big-city policy. lts main objectives are to reduce the number of dropouts, improve the job perspectives for youth, and to ameliorate the language deficiencies among people with a foreign background.

In the context of Safety, the covenant refers to a chain of safety. It consists of several links, including prevention geared to the target group, supervision, investigation, criminal court procedures, and carrying out of the sentence. The entire chain should be reinforced in the four big cities.

The act ion field of Care is primarily focused on the weakest members of society. Problems tend to accumulate among these people. Measures emanating from this policy are intended to prevent that group from landing in the safety net of social services. Moreover, this policy is geared to ensuring an adequate performan-ce of that safety net as long as people need it and to ensuring that they can get back on their feet.

In the framework of Livability, a livability thermometer is being developed to measure issues such as nuisance, public safety (or lack of it), and the quality of the residential environment. The action field of Livability explicitly brings up the issue of segregation in districts where there is a concentration of underprivileged people.

It uses the following characteristics as points of reference: ave rage income, the nature of the residential moves, and the volume of investment in the district from both public and private sources.

Big-city poliey in the Hague (Research Question 4)

Some of the main elements in the big-city policy as it has been worked out for the Hague are contained in two policy papers. One of these, entitled Woekeren met de ruimte [Making the Most of Space], presents an approach to Iivability issues. The other one, ca lied Jongeren meer in balans [Bringing Youth into Balance], deals with

concerns about the youth, particularly among those with a foreign background.

Furthermore, livability plans have been made for each district. These plans give attention to safety, inclusion of Melkert jobs in livability projects, and ways to deal with youth issues. Melkert jobs are also drawn into the upkeep of public space. They are applied to efforts to improve Iivability. In addition, they are found in the care sector. And they are included in enforcement teams for public safety and traffic safety.

Incidentally, filling these Melkert jobs has run into some delay. The bottlenecks Iie in availability of openings and in placement of applicants. Further-more, it should be pointed out that businesses and other private parties are involved in the effort to improve Jivability. They are encouraged to invest in the district and thereby to help make it a better place to live.

Minority policy (Research Question 4)

Members of ethnic minorities frequently have a deficit in some areas. In particular, these deficits tend to show up in their labor-market position, educational attainment, and housing situation. They are thus liable to end up in a situation of social isolation. The policy seeks to help them catch up with the rest of the population in these respects. It is also geared to achieving greater participation and quicker integration in Dutch society; this aim is most critica I for newcomers. Many aspects of the policy are not exclusively aimed at ethnic groups. Rather, they are concerned with everyone who is in a weak position. This applies to housing as weil. Lower-income groups --whether native to the Netherlands or not-- are eligible for an affordable dwelling and can apply for a housing allowance on the same conditions as anyone else. The new Housing Allowances Act, enacted on 1 July 1997, has reduced the net cost of housing for the lowest-income groups. Specific policy has been formulated for refugees. It is compulsory for managers of housing to designate a certain share of their units for asylum-seekers who have a residence permit and for refugees whose status has been recognized. Naturally, the immigration policy regarding entry to the country is specifically concerned with foreigners. Incidental-ly, that policy has become more restrictive. Furthermore, the law promoting proportionate participation of non-indigenous people in the workforce (de Wet

Bevordering Evenredige Arbeidsdeelname Allochtonen) is geared to setting targets for recruitment of employees among ethnic minority groups. The minority policy is closely interwoven with the big-city policy and the district-oriented approach in a number of ways. The following discussion of policy in the Hague is a case in point. Minority policy in the municipality of the Hague

(Research Question 4)

The local authority' s standpoints on minority issues for the period 1992-1996 are set forth in the memorandum called Den Haag, rijk aan culturen; multiculturele stad [The Hague, rich in cultures; multicultural city]. For subsequent years too, the policy is mainly shaped by the multicultural city project (known as the MCS project). The prime concern of the local authority is that migrant policy (which is actually minority policy) should be embedded in the (overall) policy to address deprivation. The mere fact that someone is a member of a minority group does not necessarily mean that he/she needs support. Indeed, care should be taken to avoid stigmatizing people on the grounds of their descent. An active stance against racism and discrimination is given high priority. In some cases, closely targeted support is needed, however, particularly in the fields of employment, education, and labor-market participation. The municipality gives temporary subsidies to certain projects. The district-oriented approach is also applied to minority policy, and increasing so. For instance, within several fields of action --Livability, Youth, and Safety--circumscribed by the big-city policy, the effort to deal with problematic youth groups is financed in part by the MCS budget.

Restructuring policy (Research Question 5)

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In 1996, the four big eities, in conjunction with the Ministry of Housing (VROM) and the Ministry of Intemal Affairs, presented a memorandum entitled De Gediffe-rentieerde Stad [The Differentiated City]. This document reports on the joint consultation held on forming a strategy to prevent and combat segregation. The restructuring policy was given a foundation in the 1997 budget of the Ministry of VROM. For that year, 65 million guilders were made available for this task. The financing was further specified in the memorandum on urban regeneration. There too, a link was laid between restructuring and urban renewal. A total of 3.7 billion guilders was made available for the period 1998~201O. Half of that amount was earmarked for restructuring.

The main task of the restructuring policy is to break down the monolithic character of the dwelling stock. Ideally, the aim is to diversify the very one~sided stock, to pro vide higher~income groups with a supply of good~quality dwellings in the eities and, at the same time, to offer lower~income groups sufficient freedom of choice. The range of choice is supposed to inc1ude newly built dwellings in large~ scale new development areas. The instruments that can be used to achieve this aim are the following:

demolition of those inexpensive rental units that are in a poor physical condition or have a weak market position; replacement of these units by new construction in the intermediate or expensive price cIass;

upgrading of dwellings; improvement such that the units fall into a higher price c1ass;

combining or splitting up units; the market position of many sm all dwellings could be improved by converting small units into larger ones.

selling off rental units; this creates a differentiated tenure profile in a district; acquisition of old private rental units by housing associations (in combination with demolition or improvement programs).

The above measures must be accompanied by improvements in the residential environment, the infrastructure, the range of shops, and the level of services. The district must be made more attractive. In addition, support must be provided for the current occupants if the intervention is to run smoothly.

Restructuring policy in the Hague (Research Question 5)

The objectives of the restructuring policy were not new. At a much earlier point,

they formed part of the housing policy of the Hague. Alongside these objectives, the core task of the authorities entails keeping enough affordable rental dwellings in the stock to meet the need. The frame of reference for this task is wider than the city, however; it spans the entire city region of Haaglanden.

In 1995, the municipality of the Hague, in collabo rat ion with the housing assoeiations, drew up a plan of action. That plan targeted two areas: the prewar core urban renewal area and the early-postwar districts of the Hague Southwest. Restructuring is also part of a three-pronged approach to spatial investment by the municipality. That approach is outlined in the memorandum entitled Den Haag op

weg naar herstel [The Hague on its way toward recovery]. The restructuring policy

is elaborated in a document called Naar een ongedeelde stad [Toward an undivided city]. In brief, it amounts to working toward the ideal of mixed districts. The approach is to tackle each district on its own terms. And the precondition is to maintain a sufficient number of affordable dwellings within the region of Haaglan-den. It should be kept in mind that the municipality has explicitly chosen to define segregation in terms of income. The object is to nip the development of income districts in the budo

At present, roughly 25 district-level investment plans are in preparation. Work is currently in progress on several of these projects, while several others have already been carried out. The instruments suggested by the state are either already being applied in the Hague or are suitable for use there. New construction --after demolition, if necessary-- constitutes a key instrument in the restructuring task. The overall contribution of new housing to the restructuring effort has been assessed on the basis of two specific projects. These two cases are described in the following sections.

Contribution of new construction and renovation to the restructuring of districts in the Hague

(Research Question 5)

An analysis of housing completions between 1990 and 1996 reveals that the pre-existing differentiation has remained in place. The analysis pertains to districts where income growth lagged behind that of the population as a who Ie and the income level was below average. The pre-existing bias favored inexpensive rental apartments. To a \esser extent, the same situation --that is, continuity in differentia-tion of the dwelling stock-- was found in districts with an above-average rate of income growth and level of income. There, one-third of the new completions were inexpensive dwellings.

The plans for the period 1997-2001 take a new direction. A larger share of moderate and expensive dwellings are projected for the owner-occupancy sector, especially in the lagging districts. The new emphasis on this tenure wil\ make those districts less one-sided with regard to price class. However, the existing one-sidedness with regard to blocks of flats is hardly reduced. But the impact of the new direction is found elsewhere too. Plans for the districts that are considered forerunners a\so show a shift toward more expensive dwellings. The share of inexpensive dwellings among the new completions will fall sharp\y. The existing bias toward more expensive dwellings wil\ thus be maintained if not reinforced.

Effects of new construction projects in older districts (Research Question 5)

Two projects were evaluated with regard to the effects that the new residents have on the district. One of these projects is the Schermerkwadrant, which forms part of the early-postwar district of Moerwijk. The other is Kaapstraat, located in the prewar urban renewal area called Transvaalkwartier. Both districts fall under the heading of lagging districts. The focus of the investigation was single-family owner-occupied dwellings, of which these projects mainly consist. Most of the dwellings

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-were selling for over 200 thousand guilders. Residents of the Schermerkwadrant project came mainly from the Hague, though from outside the district. This demonstrates that it is possible to attract people who do not live in the neighborhood to the type of district in question. Half of the residents are indigenous Dutch, while most of the others are from Surinam. People living in the Kaapstraat project came mainly from Transvaalkwartier. Two-thirds are Surinamese, and the rest are mainly Turkish. The residents of both projects had been looking specifically for a single-family dwelling within the city of the Hague.

The predominant level of educational attainment in the Kaapstraat project is lower or intermediate vocational school (LBO or MBO). In the Schermerkwadrant project, the level is somewhat higher: people have at least MBO and many have HBO (higher vocational school). The level of income is unknown, but we may assume that these residents contribute to a greater diversity in the district in socioe-conomic terms. Incidentally, this djversification effect does not show up in the ratio of indigenous to non-indigenous residents. Many of the new occupants of the Schermerkwadrant project continue to use the shops and services in their old neighborhood. Accordingly, they have no positive effect on the economic basis of the district. The residents of the Kaapstraat project do, however, make frequent use of the services in the immediate surroundings. This comes as no surprise, since most of those people had moved only a short distance.

Conclusions

There is a considerable degree of segregation in the Hague at the district level. Although segregation with respect to ethnic background is the most prevalent type, it does not seem to be increasing. Segregation of the unemployed is declining. However, there are strong indications that the gap between the districts with the best and the worst income positions is widening. This is certainly not a favorable development in light of the municipality's tendency to view segregation exclusively as an effect of income differentials. In this regard, it should be noted that the investigation only covers the "registered poor." Inclusion of groups that fall outside of this registration --illegal aliens and some homeless persons-- might weil tip the scales toward an even worse outcome.

Segregation is considerable at the regional level, too. Moreover, a few municipalities that are in a very good position appear to be getting further ahead of the others, propelled by their income growth.

Work is in progress to improve the position of the groups that might be trapped in the deprived districts.

In the framework of the big-city policy, a great deal has been accomplished in a relatively short time. The concept whereby jobs are created that make a direct contribution to public safety, care provision, and livability in the district is a stroke of genius with respect to a comprehensive approach. However, the implementation of the policy is fraught with delays. The task of arranging new positions (specifical-Iy, so-called Melkert jobs) at the organizations involved sometimes calls for new regulations and is usually a time-consuming affair. Sometimes, the placement of applicants must be preceded by a retraining program or an upgrading of their skilIs.

Another (major) problem is the lack of transparency; it is not always clear where the necessary funds will come from. The policy has been criticized on various points. One is the fixation on jobs, which some consider to be carried too far. They point out that even working people may have a very low standard of living. This is true of those on the bottom rungs of the labor market. Furthermore, some have accused the policy-makers of showing too little concern with the situation of the lowest-income groups. In addition, they point out that there will always be a residual group of people who will never get into the workforce.

Two other issues come to light when considering the policy to ameliorate depri vat ion in particular areas and among certain groups. The first is the growing tendency to break down the boundaries separating the fields of sectoral policy, a tendency that has been aptly dubbed "de-encapsulation." The second is the growing alertness to the de-coupling of specific target-group policy, on the one hand, and ethnic and cultural characteristics, on the other. And that shift is increasingly manifest in the interweaving of policy measures. Specifically, measures in the area of economie reinforcement and employment tend to mesh with measures promoting social participation, education, and instruments in the fields of housing and the residential environment. More and more, all of these measures are drawn into a single policy plan. In essence, these measures are no different for persons from a foreign background than for indigenous Dutch people.

This is also true of housing policy. In the Netherlands, housing has traditi-onally been an essential element of the welfare state. Once again, housing policy is being used to deal with less-desirable situations. The revision of the system of housing allowances provides more support in places where it is most needed. The dwelling stock is subjected to a selective but ambitious and strategie restructuring program. The intention is to achieve a greater socioeconomie differentiation among the local residents. Here too, the efforts are geared to the district level.

The spatial dualism within the city of the Hague largely coincides with a very high degree of spatial concentration of the stock of social rented dwellings and a slightly less extreme concentration of owner-occupied dwellings. This also applies to segregation at the regional level, though to a somewhat lesser degree.

The social rented sector and the owner-occupied sector have to be spread out more across the city if the effort to curtail segregation is to be successful. It proves that the supply of more expensive dwellings in districts where the stock is chiefly inexpensive can lead to changes. Those more expensive units have a definite appeal, even to people from outside the district who show a propensity to move. At the same time, that supply can induce households with an income above modal not to move out of the area.

Generally speaking, the owner-occupied sector is not accessible to lower-income groups. The task of providing housing for this group --the so-called focal group of housing policy -- falls to the social rented sector. Over the past few years, this has been the main thrust of the policy to promote a "balanced distribution of the dwelling stock." In this framework, a dilemma arises. The better the social sector performs its primary task --that is, to provide housing for the target group-- within the existing stock, the greater the risk that segregation on the basis of income will

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-increase. This risk is all the more acute as the focal group becomes more and more synonymous with the socially disadvantaged population. These are non-wage

-earning households with a low income and a po or outlook for any improvement in their situation. Thus, the extremely unbalanced spatial distribution of dwellings according to tenure class tends to encourage the rise of segregation by income.

This is just one of many dilemmas that arise in the course of restructuring. Another is the effort to maintain a core stock that is affordable to households on a low income. The required size of that stock has to be determined, both for the present and for the future. Yet another issue is that short-term needs may diverge from long-term interests. In the short term, the sale of social rented dwellings may

offer some relief. In the long term, however, selling off that stock may create problems in dealing with urban renewal in a later stage because of the fragmented titles. This brings up another dilemma: the sc ale and programming of the restructu

-ring effort. In a district with a one-sided housing stock, is it advisable to tackle a

large share of the units at once? Or is it more efficient to work on a series of relatively small projects one at a time?

To a certain degree restructuring policy is grounded in physical determinism. It is assumed that by changing the composition of the dwelling stock, the composition of the population will also change more or less automatically. But whether or not this relation is that direct remains to be seen. Redifferentiation can only be seen as flanking policy, shoring up the main task, which is to eradicate deprivation itself. Tenacity is not enough. It is also necessary to expand current sectoral policies and

make more cross links among them. In that way, the Big-city policy, restructuring

policy, and policy on social deprivation would seem to form the main trajeetory along which segregation in the Netherlands can be both prevented and tackled. The ultimate direction is clear: toward an undivided city.

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FRAMEWORK

1.1 Spotlight on segregation

The spatial segregation of the population according to income is nothing new in the Netherlands, nor in other countries. The development of the elite enclave and the gold coast in cities and suburbs goes back for at least a century. Back in the 19th century, such areas were inaccessible to lower-income groups and in many cases even to people with a median income. At the same time, development has also taken place at the other end of the income scale. We have witnessed the ri se of working-class neighborhoods and agrarian communities with a modest

socio-economic position. Nevertheless, the contrasts between the rich and the poor remained fairly indistinct for a long time. The relatively smooth social gradient was due to astrong tradition of government intervention to prevent income differences from becoming 100 steep. The rationale was to ensure that the entire population had equal access to health care, education, and participation in civil society. Of course, this co st a great deal of public money. The prevailing concern with the provision of adequate housing for low-income households was certainly not taken lightly. This item was given its due share of the budget. The Netherlands' subsidy-laden social sector was an international showcase. The international community looked up to the Netherlands for the quantity and quality of its social housing.

Since the early 1980s, the national policy has had to bend under the pressure of economic and political change. These structural changes, on which we will expand in the following chapter, prompted cutbacks in government spending and a stronger market orientation. The cutbacks were largely achieved through deregula-tion and decentralizaderegula-tion measures. And market incentives inched their way up the political agenda. There was also a shift toward a more market-oriented approach in the field of housing.

In the course of the 1980s, the economy came out of its slump. Yet at the same time, the gap between rich and poor was growing too. Households in the lowest income-group did not profit from the resumed, modest economic growth. In addition, the increased market orientation of the housing policy does entail some risk. It is possible that the spatial separation between the rich and the po or will become entrenched. The Social and Cultural Planning Bureau raised a warning sign

in 1994. They pointed out that a housing policy following market trends could have unpleasant effects. For one thing, it could increase the concentration of low-income households in districts at the bottom of the housing market hierarchy (SCP, 1994).

In 1995, the same agency raised an admonishing finger once again, this time with regard to the concentration of foreign-born residents in those districts. The report ca lied attention to the fact (already widely known) that unemployment among these groups was disturbingly high (SCP, 1995). The choice of sites for the urban extension areas, fresh from the drawing board, worried some people. The selection of locations at a short di stance from the central cities was feit to pose an extra threat to existing districts with a weak market position.

The likelihood of increased segregation has been refuted by some (Musterd and Ostendorf, 1996). There is also some debate on the scale at which it is appropriate to speak of segregation in the Netherlands. Does it occur within the city or only between the city and its hinterland? This phenomenon has raised many questions, and these have not been answered by a long shot.

Nonetheless, prevention and abatement of (spatial) segregation on the basis of income and ethnic identity have been high on the Dutch political agenda for several years. When the current cabinet took office in 1994, it set out to revitalize the eities and combat unemployment. This vis ion was fleshed out in a Big City POlicy, the Dutch equivalent of national urban policy or urban regeneration program (see Chapter 4). Since that time, the national government has become convinced of the need to tackle segregation in all its forms. Besides mounting an offensive against the causes of soeial marginalization, housing measures would have to make a contribution too (see Chapter 5). However, neither the possibilities nor the limitati-ons of housing to make a difference have really been demlimitati-onstrated.

1.2 The research objectives and problematic

The local authority of the Hague and the Ministry of Housing (VROM - Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment) got together to explore the options. They have taken the initiative to set up an international exchange of experiences with regard to the opportunities and limitations of housing policy as an instrument to prevent or reduce spatial segregation in the city and its region. The objective of this study is to find out what the experiences of the Netherlands and other countries can teach us about this problem.

Two research institutes -- AME (Amsterdam Study Centre for the Metropoli-tan Environment, at the University of Amsterdam) and OTB (Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies, at Delft University of Technology)-- have conducted a comparative study of this problem. The study covers six European cities and their agglomerations: the Hague, Barcelona, Birmingham, Brussels, Frankfurt and Lille. The investigators asked several key informants in those European cities for information that could shed light on the following questions:

1. Which general economic and demographic developments are involved in the rise of segregation and the effort to combat it? What is the structure of the welfare state, and to what extent has it changed recently?

2. To what extent is segregation experienced as a problem by policy-makers at

the national, regional, and local level? How does the perception of segregati-on as a problem develop?

3. To what extent does segregation in a socioeconomic and ethnic sense occur

within the city and between the city and its hinterland? How does the

phenomenon of segregation develop at the local and the regional level? 4. Which policy is pursued at the national, regional, and local level to combat

segregation? To what extent do the policy-makers use instruments such as reinforcement of the economic structure, schooling, promotion of

employ-ment, spatial planning and urban revitalization? What effects do these

instruments have?

5. Which specific instruments of housing policy are implemented in the fight

against segregation? What are the (anticipated) outcomes of that effort? These questions outline the present study, which forms part of the wider investigati-on. Here, the task at hand is to analyze the Dutch situation. The focus is on the city

of the Hague and its surrounding region, which is called Haaglanden. That city

region forms a case study. The case studies concerning the other five European

cities will be reported separately.

The remainder of this introductory chapter is devoted to the concept of segregation. In the second chapter, we first look into structural developments (for the most part, at the national level) that pertain to the emergence as weil as the

abatement of segregation. We then turn to the historica I developments that are

specific to the way in which spatial segregation has taken shape in the Hague. This chapter deals with the first and second research questions. In Chapter 3, we pursue the third question. We analyze the more recent development of segregation in the Hague and Haaglanden. In order to chart the socioeconomic profile of the districts of the city and of the municipalities of the region, we use existing statistics referring to several years (if available). Chapter 4 examines the fourth question. We discuss the national policy --though not the housing policy-- that is directly or indirectly

aimed at preventing divisions, be they spatialor otherwise. The Big City Policy

includes programs that are supposed to create opportunities for individuals and households who find themselves at the lower end of society in a socioeconomie

sense. The chapter first deals with the substance of the Big City Policy, the

progress that has been made on it, and the way it is taking shape in the Hague. We then go on to discuss the minority policy. This policy devotes special attention to groups with a non-Dutch background. One of the aims of that policy is to help the newcomers adjust to living in Dutch society more quickly. Chapter 5 deals with the last research question. It considers the stance of the national government on using housing instrurnents to combat segregation. Special attention is paid to the soca lied urban restructuring policy. It also reviews how those instruments are put to use at

the level of the city of the Hague and the region of Haaglanden. This study concludes with a summary of the main findings.

1.3 Segregation defined

The concept of segregation is sometimes used in combination with the concept of concentration (see e.g. SCP, 1995, pp. 38-39). And sometimes the concepts are used interchangeably. This is primarily due to the ambivalent meaning of the term concentration. It denotes a process as weil as the outcome of that process, while it is also used as a static concept. When concentration is taken as the result of a process, the term indicates that a particular phenomenon is found more in a particu-lar area relative to the adjacent or surrounding area. For instance, there is a concentration of banking institutions in the city center. But the same sentence can also mean that banks are engaged in drawing most of their establishments into the city center. When used as a more neutra I and stat ic concept, concentration refers to a certain proportion of a feature in an area, comparable to the content of a chemical ingredient in a compound. Likewise, the concept of segregation is used in reference to both a process and a condition. It denotes the process by which individuals with common characteristics group at a given place. Respectively, it refers to the condition in which a certain degree of aggregation has taken place (SCP, 1995). In the present study, we understand segregation as a stat ic concept. It thus denotes differences in concentrations of certain population characteristics. We refer to the dynamics of concentration in terms of an increase or decrease in segregation.

With regard to the phenomenon of segregation between population groups, the literature reveals that besides differences in concentration, the situation must also be involuntary to some extent, or at least undesirable. The concept of segregation implies the existence of problems. It should be kept in mind that there are also high concentrations of population characteristics that do not suggest any problems whatsoever. For instance, the high concentrations of young families with children in lowrise districts are not associated with problems. Nor are the high concentrations of students in the inner city or high-income groups in neighborhoods with detached single-family houses. High concentrations of individuals with a similar cultural or ethnic background are not necessarily considered problematic either. Such situations are actually referred to as cases of congregation.

Therefore, in discussing segregation, it is critica I to identify the most appropriate indicators. They should be capable of expressing both the problematic nature of and the spatial differences in concentration. Frequently, the problem lies in the concurrent presence of different characteristics and phenomena that together lead to social exclusion and poverty. This is ca lied an accumulation of problems.

Some examples of indicators that are used in research --also in the Netherlands-- to identify the accumulation of problems are the following: low income; unemploy-ment; ethnic background; low level of education; school absenteeism; dropping out of school; high mortality rate among persons under 65 years old (see Gramberg et al., 1992; Boelhouwer, 1997). When several of these indicators coincide within a

single household, that household is classified as underprivileged. In the Nether-lands, the high concentration of low-income groups is considered to be a seedbed for other characteristics that could lead to the accumulation of problems in an area. Segregation is a phenomenon with political and social ramifications. Politicians in particular see it as an undesirable development that can have negative repercussions. It should be kept in mind that ordinary people might see things differently. People living in a segregated area might not consider this phenomenon threatening at all.

Another factor that is important in defining segregation is scale. Segregation may be experienced at the level of the street or even the entryway to the apartment building. Obviously, the experience of segregation at that level is entirely different than that at the level of the district.

In this study, we take segregation to mean the occurrence of spatial dividing lines separating areas in which there are large differences in the proportion of underprivi-leged groups in the population. As key indicators, we take the variables of income, unemployment, and ethnic background. In principle, we distinguish two levels of scale. The first is the level of the district. Dutch equivalent is "wijk"; in the Hague, the average population of a "wijk" is about 13,500. The second is the level of the central city relative to the agglomeration. This case study considers the situation of the Hague and the city region known as Haaglanden.