J. Willemijn Van der Straaten, Ph-D student , Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Martin Koning, senior researcher, The Hague, The Netherlands, Jan Rouwendal, assistent professor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Measuring the Welfare Effects of Spatial Planning in the Netherlands (assigned to theme
In the densely populated Netherlands spatial planning imposes tight restrictions on the location possibilities of households. Although this policy has probably resulted in restricting urban sprawl in the central part of the Randstad (the so-called Green Heart), there are doubts with respect to its overall effects. According to many observers spatial planning policy is one of the reasons of the lack of affordable housing associated with the persistently high house prices in the Netherlands. One of the problems in assessing the net effects of Dutch spatial planning is the lack of an operational analytical framework for a cost-benefit analysis. In this paper we consider the possibility to fill this gap by employing the empirical methodology recently developed by Cheshire and Sheppard. Their method allows one to estimate the costs and benefits of restrictions imposed on house building by comparing house prices and the value attached to open space among cities with different spatial planning regimes. We discuss the specific aspects of the Dutch context in relation to the possibility for using analytical framework of Cheshire and Sheppard. Depending on the progress we make in the coming months, some results of the policy evaluation will be presented.
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(copyright Gunther Maier) |