Vinex housing estates ‘ghettos of the future’

Out of town housing estates known as Vinex-wijken threaten to become the ghettos of the future if the government does not take action, the AD reports on Monday.


Unless councils invest heavily in public safety and provisions for young people, better-off families will leave the estates, sociologists told the paper.
‘Town planners have not properly considered the relationship between working, living and recreation,’ sociologist Frits Spangenberg is quoted as saying. ‘The population mix is good, but it is also about facilities. That is the major handicap.’
The name Vinex wijk comes from a 1993 government report entitled Vierde nota ruimtelijke ordening extra (supplement to the fourth white paper on spatial planning) which led to a government agreement to foster the building of 634,800 new homes by 2015.
The new estates were particularly popular with young families but were soon criticised for not having enough facilities such as shops.

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