High‐rise housing reconsidered: Some research and policy‐implications

Abstract High‐rise housing estates are generally seen as a problem. High‐rise blocks in the social sector on the edge of the city are implicitly written off. Although in the Netherlands high‐rise blocks are overrepresented among ‘problem’ blocks, high‐rise housing itself can not be classified as problematic. Evidence suggests that even in the case of nearly identical blocks, located in the same neighbourhood or housing market area, performance and social conditions differ. This article focuses on the ‘well functioning’ high‐rise blocks in the social sector, not on the ‘ill functioning’. Research providing a comparison of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ high‐rise blocks in two middle‐sized towns in the Netherlands is used to consider what can be learnt about the prospects and potential of social high‐rise housing in the near future.