Urban densification can take on many forms: from subdivisions to brownfield redevelopments, family-sized apartments to high-rises, occupied by young urbanites or the elderly.

In their new paper with Team-members Vera and Mathias explore where and under which conditions these forms of densification occur in Bern and Utrecht. They employ a GIS-based method analysing densification processes within their surrounding morphological and socio-demographic context. A k-proto cluster analysis on highly detailed spatial and statistical data based on housing units, covering 2011–2019, results in five densification types. The distribution of these types reveals different patterns in the two city regions of Utrecht (NL) and Bern (CH). Most strikingly, contiguous redevelopments frequently occurred in Utrecht but hardly in Bern, pointing at possible advantages for Dutch municipalities to intervene in property rights. While having developed an empirical basis in this study, future research that refines the analysis of the legal, planning and ownership conditions underlying the identified densification patterns can contribute significantly to policy evaluation.

Read the whole article here