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Even in a small country such as the Netherlands, spatial variations in house prices are considerable. This paper addresses the question about the extent to which these variations in house prices can be explained by differences in physical, social and functional characteristics of the residential environment. Data on the prices and characteristics of houses were linked with a variety of attributes of the residential environment. We used hedonic price modelling to derive different models of property prices from which the contribution of the characteristics of the residential environment were estimated. It is demonstrated that regional house price variations can indeed largely be explained by characteristics of the residential environment. An important factor in these regional price differences is the accessibility to employment opportunities. Copyright (c) 2008 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

The number of farms in the Netherlands is decreasing. As a result, many agricultural buildings are losing their original function and designation. This article describes the re-use of former agricultural buildings by non-agricultural entrepreneurs. These new activities imply changes to the rural landscape, rural economy and rural society, which can be valued both as positive and as negative outcomes. Copyright (c) 2003 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

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Many European countries use mixed housing policies to decrease the spatial concentration of low-income households. Also in the Netherlands, social housing in deprived neighbourhoods is demolished and replaced by more expensive dwellings. The idea is that these new dwellings attract higher-income groups to urban restructuring neighbourhoods. At the same time, however large numbers of relatively expensive dwellings have been built on greenfield locations. This leads to a dilemma: will higher-income households choose housing in deprived neighbourhoods, while attractive new housing on greenfield locations is available? This study shows that urban restructuring attracts higher-income households to mixed tenure developments in deprived neighbourhoods, even when competing with greenfield development. Nevertheless, another process is also taking place: especially in urban regions with extensive greenfield development; there is a significant outflow of higher-income households from deprived neighbourhoods. The net result is an increasing concentration of low-income households in deprived neighbourhoods.