Research projects

Neighbourhood development has become an important area of activity for private housing companies. As the marketability of a property depends not only on its own quality but also on the quality of the surrounding area, the neighbourhood is becoming an increasingly important part of the company's strategic orientation. As a result, private housing companies are increasingly interested in sustainable approaches to neighbourhood development.

Examining the role of such approaches for private housing companies is the main aim of the project "Sustainable neighbourhood development as a field of action for private housing companies". As a first step, the project focuses on the internal logics of action and possible conflicts of objectives within the companies themselves, which are then contrasted with the perspectives and expectations of public welfare-oriented stakeholders in sustainable neighbourhood development.

Through expert interviews with representatives of private housing companies on the one hand and local experts in the field of sustainable neighbourhood development on the other, the following questions will be addressed:

• What understandings and definitions of a sustainable neighbourhood can be found in the housing industry, civil society and (academic) urban development discourses?
• What development goals and specific strategies and logics do different private housing companies pursue with regard to sustainable neighbourhood development, and how do they deal with potential conflicts of objectives?
• What intersections and conflicts can be identified between the actions of private housing companies and sustainable neighbourhood development? To what extent do the strategies of private housing companies influence the transformation of neighbourhoods, and how is this be assessed by neighbourhood development actors working for the common good?