Social housing: Urban revitalisation programmes are effective
The quality of social housing leaves much to be desired, as a recent report by the NOS points out. There are plans to heavily invest in renovation of social housing. From 2007 to 2012, government and housing associations already invested more than 1 billion – in addition to the regular investments – in the 83 poorest…
Biofuel subsidies from the EU can be allocated more efficiently
Biofuels help reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. In their attempts to meet agreements on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, governments subsidize farmers to grow bioenergy crops. However, current ways of subsidizing farmers in the EU are not optimal. Conventional crops receive large amounts of funds, while upcoming technologies such as biofuel production receive relatively little…
Green tax incentives for company cars result in welfare losses
We all want to make the world a better place. Hence governments aim to help consumers to buy cars with lower CO2 emissions. One way of doing this is by reducing taxes on cars. Ideally, such a tax is directly linked to the actual CO2 emissions of the car because then the polluter pays for…
The congestion charge in London and its effects on office rents
Modern cities enjoy many benefits connected to dense population and proximity of firms, but also face negative effects of agglomeration. In an urban context, external effects of traffic like noise and air pollution, or traffic congestion are some of the most significant issues for policy makers. Inefficiencies arising from congested roads have sparked economic research…
Parking and car ownership: Will cheap parking spaces increase car ownership?
Many cities in Europa are congested. A high population density and historic city centres imply that there is little space left that can be used for parking.
Should we invest in renovating historic buildings?
In many countries, vast amounts of public money are invested to preserve historic buildings. In the Netherlands, for example, total public expenditures on renovation subsidies have been more than a billion euros since the 1970s.
Housing values, gas extraction and earthquakes
The production of natural gas has grown rapidly in recent years. For example, in the United States the total shale gas production has increased with almost 900 percent in the last six years.
ff ‘Urban Dynamics – Analysing urban development dynamics and impacts’ was the title of the joint workshop organized by Spatial Economics U and Universitas Indonesia. The workshop was part of the WINNER Event (Week of Indonesia-Netherlands Education and Research)* and took place on October 27. * WINNER is an initiative by the Embassy of…
Cars have changed the way cities are organised. This column uses a sample of 123 cities in 57 countries to show that car ownership reduces the density of people and employment by allowing low-density expansion into the urban periphery. The findings have implications for cities in developing countries, where strong car ownership increases are expected…