GENTRIFICATION AND THE URBAN-POOR - URBAN RESTRUCTURING AND HOUSING POLICY IN UTRECHT

A major housing policy shift is occurring in the Netherlands in the ea rly 1990s. Its main thrust is the decentralisation of control from the national to the regional level. The trend toward deregulation and bud get cuts will give market principles more leeway in housing. This pape r traces the impact of these policies on the housing situations of low -income groups. Some of the anticipated effects are illustrated in a c ase-study of housing and neighbourhood change in the Utrecht metropoli tan region. The paper starts with a sketch of the shifting housing mar ket positions of various residents against the backdrop of social tren ds. This state of flux is related to current economic restructuring an d to the new housing policies. Competition between population groups i s highlighted in the case-study of Utrecht where gentrification and th e regional cooperation of housing authorities are changing the rules o f the game. At present, displacement is the lesser evil, compared to t he debilitating effects of renewed suburbanisation. But in the future, the effects of gentrification will depend on the regional redistribut ion of socio-economic groups. It may create serious problems if the lo w-income population is not offered housing opportunities in the suburb s.