Housing innovations are the norm in a healthy neighborhood, but consider residents

Big box developers are increasingly focusing on innovations such as shared mobility, shared facilities and “smart” additional services. It is part of urban trends for a healthier living environment and facing the scarcity of space. It is necessary to associate the inhabitants with these innovations so that they function correctly, it is the experiment.

Major developers in the region are increasingly paying attention to sustainable and healthy living environments, in which poor air quality and loneliness are addressed, among other things, with adjustments to “traditional living”.

Meeting spaces are increasingly found in new residential complexes. It is also no longer standard that two cars can park in front of the door. Shared mobility as a fully-fledged alternative is becoming increasingly common. Sensors and digital apps can even automatically open and close windows when indoor air quality is poor. Some innovations are included as standard with the house or neighborhood, other innovations are optional.

According to developers of the Heijmans area, Ballast Nedam Development and BPD I Bouwfonds Area Development, such novelties may raise questions among housing seekers. Because what if you need a car and neighborhood shared cars are not available? Why does a property developer ask me to have my parcels delivered to a central collection point and not to the front door?

How to deal with these home seeker questions and concerns is a question that developers face. Do you really need to convince and educate your customers to live more sustainably or consciously? Or is it just the new normal?

“Convincing would suggest that in most cases there is a choice”

House seeker, don’t expect a car outside the door

“Convincing would suggest that in most cases there is a choice,” says Onno Dwars, CEO of Ballast Nedam Development. He sees living with sharing options becoming more and more the norm. Additionally, limited space and high construction costs are forcing developers in the area to use space more efficiently.

Shahid Talib, Smart City Director at Heijmans and Peter van Oeveren, Regional Director North West at BPD I Bouwfonds Area Development, also see in their daily work that the way of life, and therefore also development, is in transition. “It’s already the normal course of business for us,” Talib says. “Different choices in mobility and in the design of homes and neighborhoods can improve quality of life by making the living environment more sustainable and social.”

As an example, Talib mentions the establishment of a digital neighborhood platform, where residents are encouraged to help their neighbors with their household chores in exchange for a small fee or receive a signal about possible suspicious activities. among local residents. “It helps locals take care of each other, keeping an eye on their homes during the holidays, and it builds social cohesion.” Other inventive tweaks, he says, are automatic systems that alert residents to the air quality inside and outside their homes or the number of shared cars available.

A healthy, green living environment leads to happier residents with reduced healthcare costs, and it also has positive effects on space utilization, according to social cost-benefit analyses. This is the conclusion of a major study by Ecorys commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW). The municipalities are therefore also investing more in this area, note the promoters of the region.

Home seekers who expect to be able to park a car or two outside the door will be disappointed, according to Dwars. Van Oeveren also thinks that people in big cities like Utrecht and Amsterdam already know certain luxuries, like having their own car on the doorstep.

“Municipalities like to see concepts such as shared mobility reflected in new construction projects. It reduces traffic and parking pressure and improves the living environment in terms of air and sound quality,” he says.

“We are not going to wait for others to do it”

This is less true for small towns and villages. But sooner or later, the newly living will land there too, Talib expects. Developments of healthy zones are also emerging where the car is still dominant or deemed necessary. Talib mentions the sites Maanwijk in Leusden and Park Vijfsluizen in Vlaardingen as examples. In Vlaardingen, Heijmans was looking for an innovative outlook on life, in which health and greenery are paramount.

“We’re not going to wait for others to do it,” Talib says. According to him, spatial planning is not limited to stones and walls. “You don’t want to build to build. Calls for tenders often say nothing about a healthy living environment or about the happiness of the inhabitants, whereas we hear at the municipal table that people attach importance to it.

Get used to it first, then satisfied

Whether choosing a home without a parking space is a conscious or forced choice, the three area developers agree that future residents should be involved in the development of an area from the start of the process.

This is done for example with customer journeys, a digital ‘my home environment’ with a weekly mailing and the preparation of personas even before the first contact with a housing seeker.

“A housing seeker is very consciously concerned about how he or she will live when he or she moves out, so as a property developer you need to discuss this with them at that time,” says Van Oeveren. “We are increasingly offering residents a housing concept with shared services such as laundry, a bicycle repair point, physiotherapy or shared transport. Residents have to get used to it at first, but they realize later that the shared facilities are actually at least as enjoyable as the life they were used to before.

Dwars and Talib also say residents and municipalities are happy with the partial offer. Dwars: “People can of course move voluntarily if the concept is not what they are looking for. But above all I see that they stay there. Then you hear back that they like to meet their neighbors more often in shared facilities.

“The most important thing is that you do thorough research on what residents want in their living environment. Whether you are open to their ideas for the neighborhood or the apartment complex they will live in,” Talib says. According to him, a land planner can thus offer services that are better adapted to the inhabitants. Talib: “If you understand the locals well, listen carefully to what they need in their neighborhood or complex and include them enough in the development process, then a living environment with additional innovations and services works much better.

Even after delivery, contact

In order to properly map whether residents are also satisfied in the long term with living with shared cars, digital applications and new approaches such as a central point for parcel delivery, land developers are increasingly involved in a housing project. According to the promoters of the territory, the attention paid to the effects of certain new choices on a healthy living environment provides valuable information on what works and what does not work.

“Heijmans maps a lot in collaboration with locals and parties such as Staatsbosbeheer,” says Talib. From air quality to biodiversity and the convenience of digital apps like a neighborhood platform, Talib says Heijmans tracks how happy residents are with their innovative housing projects.

“It ties in with our strategy of creating healthy living environments. For our next projects, we also want to know what contributes to the happiness of those who will live in the developments of our territory”, specifies the Smart City director. Heijmans gets this information from his previous projects, which he will continue to follow for a longer period.

Ballast Nedam Development does the same for certain projects, such as the Cartesius Utrecht housing project. “Here we will test how residents react to innovations and changes in the living environment. Also in Maastricht, after the construction of the Groene Loper, we are mapping the social cohesion between neighboring neighborhoods,” explains Dwars.

“I believe that making the living environment greener and healthier can really improve our health and our life years. Like after the construction of the sewers.