Friend and Enemy

It’s been almost four years since I first called for homes to be built again in green pastures on the edges of the city. At the time, the regional newspaper translated this into a hefty headline: ‘Build lots of houses in meadows’. The dismissive reactions of the regional and provincial governments were not misplaced. Meanwhile, the housing market is so tight that friend and foe agree that the designation of large housing sites in green areas is highly necessary. At least, that is what I thought.

After a report from the EIB (Economic Institute for Construction) it turns out that this is not the case. I am not always enthusiastic about EIB publications, but this time there is a fairly thorough report. It contains concrete suggestions for the designation of 18 green meadow areas in our country where a total of 400,000 additional homes can be built. According to the EIB, this will enable us to build the one million homes needed by 2030 in order to solve the housing shortage. Natura 2000 areas have been spared. Only 1.5% of the current agricultural land is needed to build spacious and green neighborhoods.

But then again, when things get a bit concrete, the resistance starts to grow. So lecturer ‘Entrepreneurial Region’ of Fontys Hogescholen, Cees-Jan Pen, together with two other scholars, has already warned: ‘Building up the polder is a 20th century answer to a 21st century challenge’. According to them, the EIB incorrectly assumes that building in green areas is much faster than building in the city. However, the EIB report also takes into account delays due to procedures in green areas. Part of the overcapacity built up now will be carried over to the period after 2030. Building in green areas, however, can be much faster and thus cheaper, as practice has shown.

The EIB certainly does not reject inner-city construction. And I would also like to point out once again that we cannot afford the luxury of betting on a single horse for a longer period of time: in housing construction, it should not be a case of either/or, but both/and. The housing need is great and diverse, and so all areas will need to be addressed energetically. Do not create a false contradiction between quality and quantity, but speed things up. The choice of locations does require central control. Two directors of housing corporations recently wrote: “In short, our appeal comes down to showing courage by those who lead our country. Make choices, do something and stop talking! Accept that you will make enemies. The number of friends in time will be all the greater.” Unfortunately, in 100 days, the people in The Hague who are supposed to give direction cannot yet agree on who gets to be at the wheel with whom. That does not bode well for housing.