Prioritizing behaviour alongside regulations in Amsterdam’s planning projects

Project-specific actor constellations and relationships shape contemporary planning practice. The existing literature predominantly focuses on the flexibility of regulations in planning projects and largely ignores the behaviour of involved governance actors. Here, we argue that the nuances of relationship dynamics between public and private sector actors deserve increased scrutiny. Based on in-depth interviews with public planners and project managers, and private developers and investors involved in Amsterdam’s urban development, and a case study of a major redevelopment project, we have coined a new term: ‘behavioural flexibility’. Behavioural flexibility highlights how relationships extensively affect how actors trust and communicate with one another, and how their goals align. Combined, these factors strongly impact planning outcomes as they determine how actors eventually behave in projects by either being supportive and constructive or unhelpful and obstructive. The findings call for an assessment of ‘indicative actor relationships’ as an alternate starting point for planning projects

Key investors and their strategies in the expansion of European student housing investment

The aim of this paper is to understand the expansion process of investment into Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in Europe by examining transformations in student housing investment landscapes and uncovering the profiles and strategies of key investors between 2010 and 2020. Using data from Real Capital Analytics, trends in capital structures and profiles of PBSA investors are identified. Investors driving these trends are scrutinised in terms of their investment timelines, locations, hold periods and strategies of portfolio diversification. Furthermore, in-depth interviews with property analysts, PBSA investors, and developers substantiate the quantitative analysis. The empirical results show that Private Equity entered the European PBSA market, starting with the UK, when the yield premium post-GFC justified the perceived risk. Equity funds typically hold their portfolios for around five years and trade counter-cyclically with institutions such as pension funds. PBSA specialists, mainly REITs, have accumulated substantial portfolios, and the REIT structure is well-suited to the steady income which student rents should provide, but their lack of diversification leaves them vulnerable to changes in student demographics and accommodation requirements

The Spatial Politics of Diversity Discourses: Regenerating Croydon Metropolitan Centre

Discourses on diversity are increasingly criticised in many fields of public policy. This study draws on the example of regeneration in the Centre of Croydon, a diverse outer-London borough, in order to explore the role of diversity discourses in the imagination and creation of new urban spaces. A framework put forward by Fincher and Iveson (2008) is utilised, who contend that any local effort to plan for diversity should follow the norms recognition, redistribution and encounter. It is argued that questions on recognition are largely absent in the regeneration of Croydon Metropolitan Centre, and redistribution is discursively substituted by an individualised focus on economic opportunities. As such, discourses provide particular sets of rationalities about the influence and scope of planning as well as the imagination of new urban spaces. Nevertheless, counter common criticism, discussions and contestations about inequality are clearly on the agenda in Croydon. Top-down framings of diversity are contested and especially the strong politicisation of encounters between socio-economic groups provides the potential to develop alternative forms of socially oriented planning

The Spatial Politics of Diversity Discourses: Regenerating Croydon Metropolitan Centre

Discourses on diversity are increasingly criticised in many fields of public policy. This study draws on the example of regeneration in the Centre of Croydon, a diverse outer-London borough, in order to explore the role of diversity discourses in the imagination and creation of new urban spaces. A framework put forward by Fincher and Iveson (2008) is utilised, who contend that any local effort to plan for diversity should follow the norms recognition, redistribution and encounter. It is argued that questions on recognition are largely absent in the regeneration of Croydon Metropolitan Centre, and redistribution is discursively substituted by an individualised focus on economic opportunities. As such, discourses provide particular sets of rationalities about the influence and scope of planning as well as the imagination of new urban spaces. Nevertheless, counter common criticism, discussions and contestations about inequality are clearly on the agenda in Croydon. Top-down framings of diversity are contested and especially the strong politicisation of encounters between socio-economic groups provides the potential to develop alternative forms of socially oriented planning.

Governing regional affordability:rethinking the production of affordable spaces across the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam (MRA)

The Covid-19 pandemic has coincided with increased residential property investment outside the Amsterdam urban core and the ongoing departure of residents into its surrounding, more affordable metropolitan area. Underlying these developments, we have found increased regulatory efforts scattered across diverse public administration scales to improve housing delivery and access throughout the metropolitan region. Within these increasingly complex landscapes, we argue there is an urgent need to develop coordinated regional governance mechanisms to respond to fragmented regulatory efforts and dynamic residential investment landscapes to ensure long-term affordability and accessibility to housing across the region. We introduce an approach to affordability that centres on regional governance, moving away from popularized urban-centric interventions to affordable housing delivery and investment

European Journal of Spatial Development – Reloaded

After almost two decades of life, the EJSD has come to an important shift in its organisation. This piece is the expression of the editorial team’s wish to guide the readers through the changes that have occurred, both in the journal’s editorial structure and in its technical arrangement. At the same time, it is an occasion to highlight the ideas upon which the new direction are founded

European Journal of Spatial Development – Reloaded

After almost two decades of life, the EJSD has come to an important shift in its organisation. This piece is the expression of the editorial team’s wish to guide the readers through the changes that have occurred, both in the journal’s editorial structure and in its technical arrangement. At the same time, it is an occasion to highlight the ideas upon which the new direction are founded

Key investors and their strategies in the expansion of European student housing investment

The aim of this paper is to understand the expansion process of investment into Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in Europe by examining transformations in student housing investment landscapes and uncovering the profiles and strategies of key investors between 2010 and 2020. Using data from Real Capital Analytics, trends in capital structures and profiles of PBSA investors are identified. Investors driving these trends are scrutinised in terms of their investment timelines, locations, hold periods and strategies of portfolio diversification. Furthermore, in-depth interviews with property analysts, PBSA investors, and developers substantiate the quantitative analysis. The empirical results show that Private Equity entered the European PBSA market, starting with the UK, when the yield premium post-GFC justified the perceived risk. Equity funds typically hold their portfolios for around five years and trade counter-cyclically with institutions such as pension funds. PBSA specialists, mainly REITs, have accumulated substantial portfolios, and the REIT structure is well-suited to the steady income which student rents should provide, but their lack of diversification leaves them vulnerable to changes in student demographics and accommodation requirements