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Background: Obesity is a key risk factor for major chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. To extensively characterise the obesogenic built environment, we recently developed a novel Obesogenic Built environment CharacterisTics (OBCT) index, consisting of 17 components that capture both food and physical activity (PA) environments., Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between the OBCT index and body mass index (BMI) in a nationwide health monitor. Furthermore, we explored possible ways to improve the index using unsupervised and supervised methods., Methods: The OBCT index was constructed for 12,821 Dutch administrative neighbourhoods and linked to residential addresses of eligible adult participants in the 2016 Public Health Monitor. We split the data randomly into a training (two-thirds; n = 255,187) and a testing subset (one-third; n = 127,428). In the training set, we used non-parametric restricted cubic regression spline to assess index's association with BMI, adjusted for individual demographic characteristics. Effect modification by age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES) and urbanicity was examined. As improvement, we (1) adjusted the food environment for address density, (2) added housing price to the index and (3) adopted three weighting strategies, two methods were supervised by BMI (variable selection and random forest) in the training set. We compared these methods in the testing set by examining their model fit with BMI as outcome., Results: The OBCT index had a significant non-linear association with BMI in a fully-adjusted model (p<0.05), which was modified by age, sex, SES and urbanicity. However, variance in BMI explained by the index was low (<0.05%). Supervised methods increased this explained variance more than non-supervised methods, though overall improvements were limited as highest explained variance remained <0.5%., Discussion: The index, despite its potential to highlight disparity in obesogenic environments, had limited association with BMI. Complex improvements are not necessarily beneficial, and the components should be re-operationalised., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Collaboration from multiple stakeholders is a prerequisite to achieve the different goals of a circular economy in the built environment. Gaining the trust of passive householders is a critical factor in housing retrofit at the neighbourhood level, given the aims of the circular economy related to sustainable supply chains, production processes and consumption patterns. Building on notions of trust in expert systems, this paper explores the active roles of providers and householders in personal, technological and institutional trust and whether this can help to implement user-centred circular design approaches in housing retrofit. This study draws on empirical data from Beijing (China) and Amsterdam (the Netherlands). The paper suggests that the active use of providers' and householders' interacting roles at so-called access points in the housing retrofit process could link the practices of households to the different goals of a circular built environment. Building personal trust between constructors, installers, and policymakers as retrofit providers and active householders can contribute to the shared ownership of retrofit housing projects. Enhancing trust in the principles of retrofit packages supports technology optimization through joined product validation via social interactions. Maintaining trust relations that last beyond the retrofit project duration will contribute to future-proof communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As people live longer, rates of long-term conditions such as dementia are increasing and healthcare costs are exponentially increasing. Dementia services recognise there is a need for change; this paper provides an example of how people interacting within an architectural-led care system can positively influence this need for change. The adopted method within this paper is the 'thinking, making and living' approach underpinned by a one-time post-occupancy evaluation. The architectural-led care system, the Humanitas© Deventer in the Netherlands, is a good example of a new paradigm of care built on sustainable collaboration, which positively contributes to the well-being of the recipients of care – people with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The research proposes a strategic path to align future development in façade and façade-integrated technologies with the new economic, legal, and organizational requirements of a more sustainable, circular, and performance-based façade industry. The servitisation of the built environment, through the implementation of product–service systems, is considered a promising business strategy to achieve a circular economy transition. This servitisation faces a number of practical challenges, among them the technological readiness and effective integration and application of existing and emerging products, manufacturing processes, and digital monitoring and management tools. The research builds on targeted literature review, and on a research-through-design approach based on full-scale pilot projects developed in an ongoing feedback loop between researchers, planners, and industry partners representing both the demand and supply sides of the façade industry in the Netherlands. The paper analyses the technical implementation challenges currently preventing the façade industry from adopting performance-based contracts. It then proposes the roles that existing and emerging digital design and engineering technologies, manufacturing processes, and asset management systems can play in the development, implementation, and fulfilment of such contracts. The paper proposes a multi-stakeholder, systemic model for the development and application of façade technologies capable of overcoming many of the technical implementation barriers to the delivery of performance-based contracts for integrated facades. From this it concludes that an effective development of building technologies should strategically align with the solving of economic and contractual challenges such as circularity-readiness, profitability, risk distribution, legal demarcation, performance monitoring, and residual value stewardship. The resulting framework provides a strategic and conceptual basis for the development of circularity-enabling façade technologies, accounting for the diverse and sometimes conflicting interests of the multitude of stakeholders involved throughout a project's lifecycle. The framework aims to support planners, manufacturers, and builders accelerate the circular deep energy renovation of the built environment while also exploring new business opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban digital twins, and 3D city models underpinning them, provide novel solutions to urban management but tend to overlook the human element. The trending research on human perception reveals people's perspective towards interpreting and experiencing the built environment. Advancing the representation of building physics and descriptive information in 3D city models and urban digital twins, we establish the addition and integration of the notion of how humans perceive buildings. Unlocking a new dimension in our domain, this new concept can facilitate a broader adoption of semantic 3D data in socio-economic fields across various domains, and advance existing use cases in 3D GIS. This work is the first instance of integrating such attributes in 3D city models, which have traditionally been confined to physical and objective measures. The visual perception of each building is evaluated based on building images extracted from street view images. We add such information as new attributes to an existing CityJSON dataset representing thousands of 3D buildings in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. To facilitate a robust and sustainable integration, we develop a CityJSON Extension to accommodate the new data and validate its schema successfully, and we visualise the semantic 3D dataset. Further, we present two use cases to demonstrate the usability of our new data for downstream analysis. One is the concurrent clustering of buildings based on 3D morphology and human perception, while the other is conducting an attribute-based query that enables various stakeholders to identify a particular building of interest combining both traditional and perception attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As European governments adopt new circular built environment policies to cope with the socio-ecological crisis, the need for evaluating such policies gains in urgency. Ex post evaluation is, however, difficult as these policies have not been in place long enough to have had significant effects. Nonetheless, ex ante policy evaluation may be possible by assessing policy coherence or the alignment and synergies of policy goals, instruments and implementation practices. This paper proposes a framework to analyse circular built environment policies. This framework is based on a combination of two existing analytical frameworks: circular city development and policy coherence analysis. The framework is tested for the case of a circular built environment in campus development at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, which is regarded as an urban development proxy. Policy documents and semi-structured interviews were analysed and coded. Results confirm previous findings about a prevailing focus on looping actions and indicates limited policy instrumentalisation across governance levels. Identified multilevel (in)coherence in circular city policy is pointed out as consequence of siloed-led and supply chain-based thinking and underdeveloped circular policy frameworks. Finally, the analytical benefits of circular city development and policy coherence frameworks are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands, a highway crossing several deprived neighborhoods was tunneled in 2016. The vacant space on top of this tunnel was redesigned and prioritized for pedestrians and cyclists. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of this major infrastructural change, named the Green Carpet, on total and transport-based physical activity (PA) levels., Methods: Participants (≥18 years) were part of one of three area-based exposure groups. The maximal exposure group lived in neighborhoods directly bordering the Green Carpet. The minimal exposure group consisted of individuals living at the other side of the city, and the no exposure group consisted of individuals living in a nearby city. Actual use of the new infrastructure was incorporated as a second measure of exposure. Data were collected before and 3-15 months after the opening of the Green Carpet. Device-based measurements were conducted to obtain PA levels and collect location data. Changes in PA over time and intervention effects were determined using linear mixed models., Results: PA levels in the Green Carpet area increased for the maximal and minimal exposure groups, but did not lead to an increase in total or transport-based PA. For the no exposure group, transport-based MVPA decreased and transport-based SB increased. The significant interaction (time x exposure) for transport-based SB, indicated differences in trends between the no exposure and maximal exposure group (B=-3.59, 95% CI - 7.15; -0.02) and minimal exposure group (B= -4.02, 95% CI -7.85, -0.19). Trends in the results based on analyses focusing on actual use and non-use of the new infrastructure were similar to those of the area-based analyses., Conclusions: Results suggest that the Green Carpet led to more PA in this specific area, but did not increase the total volume of PA. The area-based differences might reflect the differences between users and non-users, but we should be careful when interpreting these results, due to possible interference of selective mobility bias. This paper reflects that the relationship between infrastructure and PA is not unambiguous., Trial Registration: This research was retrospectively registered at the Netherlands Trial Register ( NL8108 )., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The Netherlands has a strong design tradition in planning for the built environment. After a period of neglect, attention for the role of design studios has resurged, particularly for addressing complex spatial projects. These area-based projects have impacts that cut across local to regional scales, so setting up a design process that addresses these scales and engages a wide range of relevant parties proves helpful for formulating design briefs and identifying potential spatial outcomes. This paper discusses the role of the design studio in the Dutch practice, exploring to what extent it helps in identifying the integrated outcomes desired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a fossil fuel free society is expected to affect the way we live considerably. As part of Dutch Climate Agreement (Klimaatakkoord) which aims to reduce CO2 emissions, the Dutch government has expressed the ambition to gradually move towards a 'natural-gas-free' built environment in 2050. This decision will eventually affect all citizens in the Netherlands, both home owners and tenants. In this paper we study the extent of public support for this policy ambition. We aim to unravel differences between groups, and factors explaining those differences. Data were collected in the LISS-panel, with an online questionnaire, in May 2019 (Verkenning Energietransitie 2019; VET'19). We performed data analyses in this large population study of Dutch residents, using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results show significant differences by financial position, education, age, and gender, with higher support in those financially better off, with a higher level of education, younger adults (18-34 years), and women. These associations could be partly explained by psycho-social and contextual factors included in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban growth is typically considered a process of expansion. As population grows and transport costs decrease urban density gradients are expected to gradually flatten. This is a basic feature of cities, explained by urban economic models and empirically supported by a plethora of studies about urban density development from all over the world. However, additional forces, such as changes in demographic composition and locational preferences of the urban population acting at local levels, may counteract the flattening tendency of urban gradients. In this paper, we suggest a methodology to test the impact of local density changes on urban gradients, looking at spatio-temporal developments in terms of housing and population. Using highly detailed data on individual housing units and inhabitants in major Dutch cities, we first assess and compare urban density gradients during the period 2000–2017. In all the analysed Dutch cities, both dwelling and population density gradients are becoming steeper over time, contradicting standard predictions from urban economic literature and empirical reports worldwide. The observed trend of steepening urban gradients is partly explained by the presence of historical monuments and urban amenities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper contributes to theory on sustainability transitions by developing an analytical heuristic that enables explaining differences in institutional strategies to promote low-carbon innovations. • The paper presents a typology of four four different niche contexts: market-based niche development, market-based regime transformation, community-based niche development and community-based regime transformation. • The usefulness of this typlogy is explored by analysing how institutional strategies differ across niche contexts in the transition to a low-carbon building stock in the Netherlands. Literature on sustainability transitions advocates the institutionalisation of niche innovations and assigns an important role for institutional work in this respect. Previous work has conceptually and empirically substantiated a range of strategies that institutional entrepreneurs perform. However, little is known about how institutional entrepreneurs engage differently in institutional strategies across different dynamic niche contexts. We distinguish between four different niche contexts: market-based niche development, market-based regime transformation, community-based niche development and community-based regime transformation. This typology is then conceptually combined with theory on institutional entrepreneurship and institutional work to examine the diverse agential processes of institutional change through which actors shape and transform their institutional environments. The usefulness of this framework is explored in an analysis of the low-carbon building stock in the Netherlands. The analysis demonstrates that the framework offers a comprehensive approach to examine variety in the arsenal of strategies of institutional work across different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Research into climate change adaptation measures has resulted in the identification of 155 such adaptation measures that contribute to making the built environment more climate resilient. These measures mainly focus on new construction. This paper assesses the feasibility of the measures for the existing social housing stock in the Netherlands. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews were conducted with 12 property managers and policy staff members from Dutch housing associations. The interviewees judged 21 measures that were designed to adapt dwellings to heat-related problems caused by climate change, and they also answered questions regarding their awareness of climate change and regarding the feasibility of the measures. Findings – Low awareness of climate change adaptations, the financing of the measures and the technical complexity of adaptation measures are perceived barriers to implementation. Several possibilities to remove these barriers are discussed. Research limitations/implications – The sample of 12 interviewees provides valuable insight into the opinions of a select group of policymakers from housing associations. The judgements were made based on the personal experiences and expectations of the interviewees. Originality/value – This paper provides valuable insight into the opinions of policy makers and decision makers in Dutch housing associations on climate change adaptation measures in the existing building stock. These insights will be of use for policy making at the local and national levels directed towards creating a resilient building stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in many regions the conventional bicycle has already been regarded as an environmentally friendly and healthy alternative to the car for daily commuting, societal and policy agendas are also increasingly promoting e-bike adoption. Adding to recent research on e-bike safety, satisfaction with travel and behavioral change, this paper reports on the impact of weather circumstances on the use of the e-bike in daily commuting in an e-cycling incentive program in the province of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. The impact of this incentive program was analyzed using a longitudinal design, and it combined travel patterns that were derived from individuals' GPS data over nine months, hourly observed meteorological data, and questionnaires on intended behavior and sociodemographic characteristics. The findings suggest that the presence of snow and ice, total precipitation, and high windspeed negatively affected the choice of commuting to work by e-bike, in this decreasing order of impact. Although the overall impact of air temperature on e-cycling was positive, the likeliness to commute by e-bike decreased at higher air temperatures. E-cycling under specific weather conditions was more likely if participants' intention to e-cycle under such weather conditions was stronger. Our study indicates that the benefits of the e-bike in daily commuting are underestimated in relation to adverse weather conditions. Respondents from households with one car only, therefore, have fewer alternatives in poor weather conditions: for these individuals, only total precipitation and the presence of relatively low air temperature impact e-cycling. In addition, reported gender and high wind speeds might have been expected to influence participation in e-cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typically, mode choice behaviour is studied as a function of observed travel factors. Given the importance of unobservable factors on choice behaviour, this paper deviates from this approach. We analysed cycling as mode choice to access railway stations, incorporating latent variables and psychometric data to capture relatively intangible factors that influence mode choice. Such factors are not observable, but can manifest themselves through adjustable indicators. The database used for this paper contains 12000 observations of journeys carried out in the Rotterdam - The Hague area in the Netherlands, covering thirty-five railway stations. In addition to using a traditional binary logit model, we estimated three hybrid choice models for access mode choice. These hybrid choice models represented observed and unobserved factors simultaneously, including the train users' perception of connectivity, attitude towards station environment and perceived quality of bicycle facilities. The results show that both attitudes and observable travelrelated elements are important in the decision to cycle to the station or not. Variations in these perceptions and attitudes significantly affect the bicycle-train share. At the same time, improvements in unguarded bicycle parking facilities may increase the number of people who cycle to the train station more than improvements in guarded bicycle parking would. Moreover, the availability of the parking facilities is crucial during rush hours. Another conclusion is that transport strategies to encourage bicycle-train use must be implemented by station type, i.e. measures to encourage bicycle access at larger stations. Further research would develop a hybrid choice model for egress, and a stated choice experiment would compare these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cycling benefits human health and helps to mitigate environmental issues. However, limited evidence exists regarding how the built environment influences cycling volume under different time and weather conditions. In this paper, we employed a Gradient Boosting Decision tree method to analyze the non-linear and threshold effects of the multiscale built environment and microclimate on cycling volume. Results based on the multisource data of The Netherlands show that 27 out of the 28 variables have a non-linear and threshold effect on cycling volume. Temperature is found to be a dominant factor among all variables. At street level, slope is the most important factor, followed by the green view and sky view indexes. At neighborhood level, population density is the most important factor, followed by residential density, and the density of bus stops. These findings offer useful insights for planning a cycling-friendly urban built environment at different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • High resolution data from a Dutch net zero energy neighborhood is analysed. • Most buildings are positive energy, emit less carbon than they offset. • Large occupant differences in energy demand are visible across the households. • Occupant preferences and weather conditions greatly influence thermal energy demand. • Due to the high thermal efficiency, there is a high risk for summer overheating. Decarbonizing the building stock is a central component of global climate change mitigation efforts. In practice, this decarbonization can be achieved by a variety of different measures, including improvements in building energy efficiency, electrification of energy demand to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and installation of distributed (renewable) generation in conjunction with flexible storage. However, these large-scale, often disruptive changes to the built environment also raise a number of concerns, such as loss of occupant comfort exacerbated by climate change, and introduction of additional stressors on the distribution grid. In this paper, we demonstrate several conclusions using detailed sub-hourly data of two years (2019–2020) collected from 40 homes in a recently refurbished net-zero energy neighborhood in the Netherlands. This paper shows that, in renovation projects like the case study, net-zero energy balances should be considered on a neighborhood, rather than building level to minimize worst case planning by accounting for occupant influences and seasonal effects. Furthermore, the energy flexibility and climate resilience in the buildings seems to be rather limited, as a result of energy efficiency improvements. While helpful in climate change mitigation efforts, the large seasonal differences in energy demand and generation imply that this evolution is perhaps sub-optimal from the grid perspective. The results illustrate that all homes in the study were net-zero energy over the two year period, sometimes net positive by up to a factor of three. This led to considerable excess generation especially during the summer months. In addition, it was found that indoor air temperature sensors in a number of buildings showed overheating beyond guideline thermal comfort temperature of 25°C, showing potential thermal comfort and heat stress for vulnerable occupants. These results motivate energy storage or modifications of the installed heat pumps to leverage summer excess generation while reducing the impact of summer heat waves. These findings should enable the Netherlands and other countries aiming to fully decarbonize the building stock formulate better, future-proof policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban residential neighbourhoods, including migrant neighbourhoods, have become important incubation zones for small businesses in recent years and policy-makers and academics alike are wondering which local factors affect this development. This paper analyses the extent to which migrant neighbourhood characteristics related to the built environment and the local regulations matter in determining the possibilities for small businesses. It contrasts two types of neighbourhood in the Netherlands—pre-war neighbourhoods with little functional separation between residential and commercial purposes, and post-war predominantly mono-functional residential neighbourhoods. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are combined using available firm data from trade registers of the Dutch chambers of commerce, reviewing neighbourhood zoning regulations and conducting focus group and individual interviews with neighbourhood experts and entrepreneurs. It is found that the built and regulatory environment of migrant neighbourhoods does indeed appear to impact significantly on the chances of setting up a business and its subsequent fate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Emission reduction activities in the European Union (EU) in- and outside the European Trading System (ETS) thus far have largely taken place separately. One possibility to combine the two is through linking Non-ETS offset project-based crediting schemes in the form of Joint Implementation or domestic offset (DO) projects with the EU ETS. Linking would allow non-ETS offset project-based CO credits to be traded within the ETS market. This paper discusses the merits and drawbacks of the implementation of a DO scheme in the built environment in the Netherlands. The built environment can be characterised as a sector with a great diversity and significant energy savings potential. Emphasis is paid on the modalities for estimating energy savings under DO projects. The authors discuss if next to existing EU, national or regional policies in the Netherlands, DO could spur initiatives in sub-sectors or market areas that are difficult to reach with conventional policy instruments. Thus, despite the existing policy framework in this sector, there could be still space for DO to reach the untapped energy savings potential. DO can support activities and technologies that are not covered by other policy instruments, either because they are not part of the instruments focus or are above the minimum requirements of the incumbent policy targets. It is expected that some lessons from this study in the Netherlands can be taken into account also by other countries facing similar market circumstances, which have implemented several policy instruments and are considering DO schemes as an alternative for capturing part of the untapped energy saving potential in their end use sectors. Another possible advantage of DO is that is has the potential to reduce public spending on existing policy goals, when it is considered in conjunction with existing public financing instruments. In order to tap into this potential, there are a series of hurdles in place, like additionality and the current CO price levels, while transaction and administration costs must be kept low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest into active modes (i.e. walking and cycling) has increased significantly over the past decades, with governments worldwide ultimately aiming for a modal shift towards active modes. To devise policies that promote this goal, understanding the determinants that influence the choice for an active mode is essential. The Netherlands is country with a large and demographically diverse active mode user population, mature and complete active mode infrastructure, and safe environment. Mode choice research from the Netherlands enables a comparison on relevant determinants with countries that have a low active mode share. Furthermore, it can provide quantitative input for policies aiming at an active mode shift. This paper estimates a mode choice model focusing on active modes, while including a more comprehensive set of modes (i.e. walking, cycling, public transport and car). Based on data from the Netherlands Mobility Panel (MPN) in combination with an additional survey focused on active modes (coined PAW-AM), this study estimates which determinants influence mode choice. The determinants can be categorized as individual characteristics, household characteristics, season and weather characteristics, trip characteristics, built environment, and work conditions. The results show that all categories of determinants influence both walking and cycling. However, the choice for cycling or walking is affected by different determinants and to a different extent. In addition, no active mode nest was found in the model estimation. Cycling and walking should thus be regarded as two distinguished alternatives. Furthermore, the results show that active mode use is most sensitive to changes in the trip characteristics and the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Ignited by the persistent health inequalities many cities and neighbourhoods, the 'Healthy and Happy The Hague' network in the Netherlands wanted to gain insight in how prevention and health promotion could become successful in one deprived neighbourhood, Moerwijk. Methods: The cycle of Look-Think-Act of Participatory Action Research was used in which both citizens and professionals got involved from the start. Besides interviews, field notes were analysed, visualised and discussed in several rounds of focus groups. Results: Thematic analysis yielded seven themes: Healthy Eating and Exercise, Healthy Money, Healthy Mind, Healthy Relationships, Growing up healthy, Healthy Environment and Healthy Collaboration. During sessions around combination of themes, eight initiatives were co-created by citizens and professionals together, improving the feeling of ownership and interconnectedness. Discussion and conclusion: This PAR sheds a light on the mismatch between the system world's solutions for individuals and the living world's needs for solutions for the collective. Findings provides a better insight into the social, political, and cultural mechanisms and processes that influence clustering and interaction of health conditions. PAR is a promising process of citizens and professionals working together is an excellent way to learn about the conditions under which people experience health inequalities, and how to combat these inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The circular economy principles have not been fully embedded into adaptive reuse practices. • A circularity performance analysis framework for adaptive reuse has been elaborated and tested. • In the Netherlands, there is a trend for more private sector involvement, and stakeholder engagement. • Stakeholders only weakly recognize the correlation of circularity with adaptive reuse. Adaptive reuse of built heritage is a driver for the circular economy. This paper examines Dutch adaptive reuse practices regarding their functional, operational and financial models, and assesses their circularity performance by evaluating cultural values preservation, circularity of reuse intervention, and outcomes from use. Primary data was collected through an online survey of stakeholders representing 53 cases. We employed Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to summarize the relationships among variables and Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) analysis to assess the weights of the active variables and their causal relationships. We then conducted a factorial mapping and hierarchical cluster analysis to investigate further the correlations between certain characteristics, individual cases, and active circularity variables. The findings indicate that there has been a major trend towards more private sector involvement, stimulation for pro-active engagement of local actors, and better dialogue among stakeholders. In addition, stakeholders acknowledge that adaptive reuse strongly contributes to conserving cultural values. However, stakeholders only weakly recognize its correlation to the circularity framework in the limited context of the physical built environment. This study provides essential insights regarding emerging adaptive reuse trends and circularity performance, which can be further incorporated into circular economy strategies and roadmaps for the built environment. The framework established in this paper for analyzing circularity performance of adaptive reuse practices is transferable, and can be replicated in empirical studies worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realization of sustainable plus energy neighborhoods (SPENs) is key to achieving a carbon neutral built environment, and meeting the objectives of the green deal. Financial schemes have demonstrated effectiveness in driving the energy transition of individual buildings. However, the role of financial schemes in initiating the development of SPENs remains unclear. This study aims to address this research gap by investigating the extent to which existing financial schemes support the technological advancements and stakeholders involved in SPEN realization. The focus is on four European countries: Austria, The Netherlands, Norway, and Spain, where noteworthy SPEN initiatives have been established. This study investigates whether and how financial schemes facilitate SPEN development and address the neighborhood-level dynamics. Our research used a mixed-methods approach comprising a literature review, case studies, and interviews. Our findings shed light on two significant barriers within current schemes. Firstly, the schemes rarely incentivize collective energy sharing and may inadvertently impede individuals' prosumerism. Secondly, they primarily favor individuals capable of making upfront capital investments, rendering them inaccessible to a large portion of European citizens. By identifying these limitations, our study highlights the need for policy adjustments and innovative financial mechanisms to overcome the barriers hindering SPEN implementation. Moreover, our research contributes to the broader understanding of sustainable urban development and offers insights that extend beyond the examined countries, aiding policymakers and stakeholders in other regions facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a preface to the March/May 2004 issue of the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. According to the author he is very pleased to welcome the papers from the third Cambridge, Massachusetts-Maastricht, the Netherlands real estate finance symposium held in 2002, which explore in depth the very real issues that are being faced in how one can most effectively finance the creation and maintenance of the built environment. This is important, the property resource is one of the most important assets that individuals will possess in their lifetime and it is the place in which most wealth is generated in the developed world. The author congratulates and thanks everyone who took part for another successful and stimulating symposium.

Over the past years, a new technology has emerged in the solar photovoltaics market: building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). Even though this technology has a lot of potential, the diffusion of BIPV has remained rather limited, globally and also in the Netherlands. In this paper, the Technological Innovation System (TIS) approach is used to analyze the historical development of the Dutch BIPV innovation system and to provide a comprehensive overview of the systemic problems that hamper further diffusion of BIPV in the Netherlands. Several systemic problems are identified, including 1) lack of policy support for the industrialization and commercialization of BIPV, 2) the absence of large firms from the construction industry resulting in the lacking industrial capacities of the BIPV innovation system, and 3) the limited value chain coordination and collaboration to help improve the compatibility and complementarity of BIPV with traditional building components and (electrical) installations. To overcome these systemic problems and enable the Dutch BIPV innovation system to move from the present niche market phase to the commercial growth phase, multiple recommendations are provided to both policymakers and value chain actors. • We use the TIS approach to analyze the Dutch BIPV innovation system. • Both the historical development and current state are considered. • Systemic problems are identified that hamper diffusion of BIPV in the Netherlands. • Policy support should promote the build-up of industrial capacities. • Value chain coordination and collaboration can improve the diffusion of BIPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper presents an extended method for exergy analysis of buildings and Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, according to an energy demand build-up model from the building side to the energy supply side. The HVAC systems comprise a thermal energy emission and control system, a thermal distribution system, an electricity distribution system and an energy conversion system. Energy and exergy that are required by a building and a HVAC system are posed into the external part and classified by different forms of energy carriers. The external part is out of the boundary of the study. The method is illustrated with an office building equipped with low-temperature heating and high-temperature cooling systems situated in the Netherlands. Thermal exergy and thermal energy demands of the building and thermal energy and thermal exergy losses occurring in the HVAC systems are discussed. The building and the HVAC systems to be considered meet standard Dutch energy performance regulations. Nevertheless their overall exergy efficiencies are low in both cases (17.15% and 6.81% subsequently). The exergy analysis also pinpoints that the thermal energy emission and control system and the energy conversion system are the main causes of the exergy inefficiencies in the heating and cooling cases, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Moisture‐damaged buildings are associated with respiratory symptoms and underlying diseases among building occupants, but the causative agent(s) remain a mystery. We first identified specific fungal and bacterial taxa in classrooms with moisture damage in Finnish and Dutch primary schools. We then investigated associations of the identified moisture damage indicators with respiratory symptoms in more than 2700 students. Finally, we explored whether exposure to specific taxa within the indoor microbiota may explain the association between moisture damage and respiratory health. Schools were assessed for moisture damage through detailed inspections, and the microbial composition of settled dust in electrostatic dustfall collectors was determined using marker‐gene analysis. In Finland, there were several positive associations between particular microbial indicators (diversity, richness, individual taxa) and a respiratory symptom score, while in the Netherlands, the associations tended to be mostly inverse and statistically non‐significant. In Finland, abundance of the Sphingomonas bacterial genus and endotoxin levels partially explained the associations between moisture damage and symptom score. A few microbial taxa explained part of the associations with health, but overall, the observed associations between damage‐associated individual taxa and respiratory health were limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German and Allied bombing of Rotterdam in the Second World War caused thousands of dead and hundreds of missing, and severely damaged the Dutch port city. The joint destruction of people and their built environment made the ruins and rubble stand metonymically for the dead when they could not be mentioned in the censored press. The contiguity of ruins, rubble, corpses and human remains was not only semantic but also material because of the intermingling and even amalgamation of organic and inorganic remains into anthropomineral debris. The hybrid matter was dumped in rivers and canals to create broad avenues and a modern city centre. This article argues that Rotterdam's semantic and material metonyms of destruction were generated by the contiguity, entanglement, and post-mortem and post-ruination agencies of the dead and the destroyed city centre. This analysis provides insight into the interaction and co-constitution of human and material remains in war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue asks how product lifetime extension in a circular economy can best be understood and managed. Product lifetime extension through design for durability, reuse, repair, refurbishment and remanufacture, and the associated circular business models, are regarded as an important way forward to achieving a circular economy. As a research field, it has however not received much attention. The collection of 24 papers was partly drawn from the PLATE 2017 conference (Product Lifetimes and the Environment), November 2017 in Delft, the Netherlands. This special issue introductory article provides an overview of the content of the articles, divided into three topics: product design in a circular economy, circular business models, and environmental & economic impact assessment. One of the overall findings is that there is a lack of empirical validation and critical evaluation of many of the widely-held assumptions about design and business model innovation for product lifetime extension. More empirical research is needed in order to build a repertoire of validated approaches, cases, tools and methods, taking into account rebound effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization (WHO) strives to assist and inspire cities to become more 'age-friendly' through the Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide. An age-friendly city offers a supportive environment that enables residents to grow older actively within their families, neighbourhoods and civil society, and offers extensive opportunities for their participation in the community. In the attempts to make cities age-friendly, ageism may interact with these developments. The goal of this study was to investigate the extent to which features of age-friendly cities, both facilitators and hindrances, are visible in the city scape of the Dutch municipalities of The Hague and Zoetermeer and whether or not ageism is manifested explicitly or implicitly. A qualitative photoproduction study based on the Checklist of Essential Features of Age-Friendly Cities was conducted in five neighbourhoods. Both municipalities have a large number of visual age-friendly features, which are manifested in five domains of the WHO model, namely Communication and information; Housing; Transportation; Community support and health services; and Outdoor spaces and buildings. Age-stereotypes, both positive and negative, can be observed in the domain of Communication and information, especially in the depiction of third agers as winners. At the same time, older people and age-friendly features are very visible in the cityscapes of both municipalities, and this is a positive expression of the changing demographics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing students' innovation competence is becoming increasingly important in higher education, yet few studies have actually investigated whether current learning environments are aimed at promoting this competence and whether students perceive that they have mastered this competence. This study aimed to map students' perceptions of the learning environment in terms of whether their schools' curricula were directed towards developing innovation competence and their perceptions of their own innovation competence. A survey was created and administered to 130 students of Built Environment programs at eight Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Students perceived a supportive learning environment for innovation competence only to a limited degree. On the other hand, students rated their own innovation competence moderately highly. Despite positive perceptions of students' own innovation competence, the learning environment was only to a limited degree aimed at developing innovation competence. The results suggest that universities might need to focus more explicitly and structurally on the teaching and assessment of innovation competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate vulnerabilities of the built environment are increasingly recognised. Mainstreaming adaptation concerns in urban development and redevelopment projects is commonly propagated as an effective policy strategy. Adaptation mainstreaming research often studies public actors. This article investigates the adaptation practices by housing associations, in the institutional and discursive developments of the social housing domain in which they are embedded. The analytical concepts of mainstreaming and adaptation barriers are combined with the discursive-institutional policy arrangement approach to answer the question: what factors influence the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation measures in development and renovation projects in the social housing domain in the Netherlands? We conclude that anticipatory and deliberate adaptation action to date was very scarce and attention limited in the social housing domain. On the project implementation level, factors that hampered adaptation mainstreaming in housing development were limited awareness, low priority in relation to other issues, financial constraints, regulatory constraints, lacking cooperation, and no materialisation of adaptation concerns in procedures and performance agreements. On the level of the policy arrangement, adaptation is weakly institutionalized in the Dutch social housing domain. The institutionalisation of a competing 'core activities' discourse hampered the legality of climate adaptation measures and eroded financial resources, dispersing the power to mobilise them over the arrangement. Uncertainty over the meaning of the new regulations, in combination with the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework for adaptation and the self-identified culture of risk aversion by housing associations, delimits adaptation action becoming a standard operating procedure of social housing associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The physical neighbourhood environment may influence adults' sedentary behaviour. Yet, most studies examining the association between the physical neighbourhood environment and sedentary behaviour rely on selfreported data of either the physical neighbourhood environment and/or sedentary behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors and accelerometer-determined total sedentary time in adults. Methods: In total, 219 Dutch and 128 Belgian adults (mean age ± SD: 55.8 ± 15.4 years) were recruited between March and August 2014 as part of the European SPOTLIGHT project. Physical environmental neighbourhood factors, grouped into eight domains, i.e. walking, cycling, public transport, aesthetics, land use mix, grocery stores, food outlets and recreational facilities, were assessed using the SPOTLIGHT Virtual Audit Tool. Sedentary time was collected using ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers. General linear mixed models were conducted to examine associations between physical environmental neighbourhood factors and total sedentary time. Results: Participants were sedentary, on average, for 542.9 min/day (SD: 84.3), or 9.1 h/day. None of the examined physical environmental neighbourhood factors were significantly related to total sedentary time. Conclusions: Our findings do not support associations of objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors with adults' objectively sedentary time in Dutch and Belgian adults. More research on sedentary behaviours in settings such as the home and work setting is needed to examine the influence of more specific physical environmental factors on these context-specific sedentary behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses fear of crime in the night-time economy as an event that emerges from, and unfolds as part of, the on-going encounters with human and non-human elements in particular places. A conceptual approach to understanding fear of crime is elaborated that highlights the role of ambiguity, meaning that a particular element does not have stable, well-determined effects on fear of crime, and the importance of thinking of fear as the folding of immediate futures and the past into the experienced present. Drawing on empirical research with university students in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the article explores how lighting, policing and the presence of ‘undesired others’ affect fear. Multiple forms of ambiguity are shown to exist, suggesting that interventions in the built environment and zero-tolerance policing tactics are unlikely to reduce fear of crime in the night-time economy as much as past research, influential policy and media discourses have suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Urban residential neighbourhoods in the Netherlands increasingly function as incubation zones for small-scale businesses. Despite this development, little is known about whether and how the local production environment in these neighbourhoods shapes firm mobility behaviour. This article studies how two aspects of the local production environment - the built neighbourhood environment and zoning regulations - affect firm mobility of small-scale businesses in urban residential neighbourhoods. To achieve this aim, we contrast two sets of urban neighbourhoods, pre- and post-second world war neighbourhoods with a comparable low socio-economic profile, but with distinct built environments and zoning regulations. We combine quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse available trade register data from the Dutch regional Chambers of Commerce, study neighbourhood zoning regulations, and conduct focus-group and individual interviews with neighbourhood experts and entrepreneurs. The local built environment and its regulations appear to have a small but significant effect on the firm mobility behaviour of entrepreneurs in the neighbourhoods studied. Relocation intentions are higher among entrepreneurs in post-war than in pre-war neighbourhoods, which may (in part) be attributed to less favourable local institutional settings for businesses, but actual firm mobility does not differ between these neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how life course characteristics and housing market circumstances affect the formation and realisation of preferences to move into homeownership. Using a data set from the Netherlands in which data from three cross-sectional housing surveys are enriched with longitudinal register data for the period 1998-2008, we follow aspiring homeowners regarding their actual residential behaviour. We find that only 31 % of the aspiring homeowners became homeowners within 2 years, approximately 13 % moved to rental homes, and the vast majority did not move at all. Insufficient socioeconomic resources and a high house price-to-rent ratio hamper the realisation of preferences to move into homeownership. However, these hampering factors are at least as important as the extent to which individuals prefer to move into homeownership. This last finding suggests that housing tenure preferences cannot be viewed as 'pure' preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When analysing the ways in which the built environment is produced as well as consumed, either by the user or investment side of the real-estate market, much is determined by the way in which investors and developers respond to differences in policy environments. It is furthermore argued that in inner city residential development projects the relevant investment criteria ought to reflect multidimensional sustainability rather than one-dimensional profitability considerations. An evaluative case study of de Pijp, an inner city neighbourhood in Amsterdam, finds that neighbourhood revitalization initiatives can avoid social and environmental unsustainability even amid lesser government involvement and high house price inflation. The wider implication of this finding is that house price premiums set by sellers together with increasing buyer demand plausibly indicate the feasibility of financial incentive based solutions for the problem of unsustainable inner city residential projects amidst the reality of weakened government powers for maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]