A vision of the future of housing in the Netherlands
Last Tuesday, 2 April, TU Delft's Vision Team Wonen (Housing) presented their report 'Room for Housing: towards an integrated approach to the Dutch housing challenge’. Vision Team Wonen was set up by the Rector Magnificus in 2023 to address the growing housing crisis in the Netherlands. The team includes experts from CEG, TPM, IDE, and every department of our faculty. It was coordinated by Dr Gerard van Bortel (MBE) and Ulf Hackauf (Urbanism).
The report 'Room for Housing' opens with the observation that the housing crisis indicates not just challenges but also opportunities to work towards a better future living environment. The report describes four action perspectives, each indicating a focus area: integrated spatial planning, dense and healthy neighbourhoods, inclusive and diverse residential buildings, and a sustainable construction sector. For each perspective, concrete tasks are listed for involved parties, such as municipalities, provinces, the state, knowledge institutions, or professionals.
"We base our report on surveys among and discussions with experts within TU Delft, as well as interviews with external experts. In addition, data from previous projects such as '1 million homes' have been enormously helpful. We are very grateful to everyone!" – Gerard van Bortel
Visit the BK Expo in the Oostserre this month
To further elaborate on and discuss the report, the BK Talks 'Room for Housing' took place in the Oostserre on 2 April. The accompanying BK Expo opened simultaneously: four huge canvases with illustrations for inspiration and visualisation, each based on one of the action perspectives from the report. Whereas the report focuses on concrete actions for stakeholders, these canvases offer the 'Vision' of the Vision Team. The illustrations, made by alumni of our faculty, show the possible future of the Netherlands if we address the housing challenge in conjunction with other challenges, such as the climate and energy crises and a growing, diverse, and ageing population. The exhibition runs from 2 to 16 April and 22 to 29 April 2024.
"The report contains many practical recommendations, and in each case specifically points out who is responsible. On the other hand, the BK Expo is an opportunity to 'zoom out' and show what the report is trying to achieve." – Ulf Hackauf
The role of our faculty during the housing crisis
'Room for Housing' stems to a substantial degree from discussions with, and research by, BK staff. Indeed, our faculty is involved at every level in understanding and combating housing shortage. Bachelor students draw up development plans for new dwelling types and locations, master students study the issue and sometimes devote their thesis to the housing crisis. There are many PhD students working on possible partial solutions, and we have several chairs that focus specifically on housing shortage. This month, we will share a few examples of housing crisis-related projects on the BK website. Because, as our dean Dick van Gameren wrote in the epilogue to the report, "There is no single solution, but rather many are needed."