External collaboration and funding

Over the years, we have established collaboration with external Government and industry partners such as the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations, Municipalities, and institutional investors and housing corporations, etc. Various forms of support, both financial and non-financial, has been generously offered by our partners in fostering academic as well as industry research. Current ongoing collaborations are listed below.

Spatial Externalities, Real Estate Markets and the Local Economy

Considerable amounts of public and private funds are used to shape the urban economy. The impacts of these investments are often difficult to measure and predict because of the (un)intended external effects that can result from them. Due to the difficulty of quantifying these so-called externalities, they are often ignored in the investment decision, or even misused on purpose in order to justify certain investments. However, from a societal point of view, it is crucial that these externalities are correctly incorporated in the investment decision. Failing to correctly incorporate these externalities in the investment decision can lead to either underinvestment or overinvestment, both of which generate a deadweight loss to society. This research project aims to evaluate the impact of a variety of investments in the built environment that aim to positively impact the local economy. Insights from this research project will help to make better informed investment decisions, thereby contributing to a more efficient allocation of both public and private funds.

N.M. Kuiper

Retail real estate

Retail plays an important role in people’s life by providing everyone with goods and services. Retail real estate, as fundamentals of retail activity, shapes the retail landscape of both bustling inner-cities and residential neighborhoods. Basically, three societal issues regarding retail real estate can be observed, of how to i) create attractive shopping districts for both consumers and retail tenants, ii) identify business opportunities for retail real estate investors and iii) utilize retail revitalization investments to help combating neighborhood deprivation. It is to these societal questions to which our research seeks answers. Our central research question is: what are the consequences of changing retail landscape for shopping districts, retail real estate investors and neighborhoods?

S. Zhang

“Shelter” - Housing and household finances

Housing markets are crucial to a nation’s wellbeing. First, housing typically is a household’s largest financial asset that comes with considerable financial risks in terms of negative equity and foreclosure. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, housing provides shelter and safety, being instrumental to school performance of children and workers’ job market performance. Third, housing (construction) provides a considerable share in GDP and jobs. Lastly, housing relates to land and (public) land assembly which crucially feed into urban planning. All these four dimensions lead to a multitude of societal questions, of which some need urgent consideration (see for instance the Dutch National Research Agenda, Nationale Wetenschapsagenda). This research project aims to consider such societal questions using academic research methods, and is geared towards providing policy-related insights regarding ‘the’ housing market.

S. Fang