Urban residential development: Insights from the Netherlands between 2013-2020

This paper presents stylized facts on urban housing development and neighborhood change using parcel level registry data from the Netherlands between 2013-2020. We propose a methodology to detect and subsequently classify development clusters over space and time. Using this approach, we are able to provide a number of novel insights on urban housing development. First, we find that urban housing supply mostly results in densification of urban areas. This is the result of both infill development and the redevelopment of residential and non-residential areas in higher densities. Second, urban housing development is highly heterogeneous and different types of development occur in distinctly different neighborhoods. We find, for example, that housing development in neighborhoods with a lower socio-economic status almost exclusively consists of development as part of urban renewal schemes. Finally, we also find that urban housing development is highly concentrated, with 20% of the largest development clusters supplying roughly 80% of new urban housing units.