Abstract

The so called Dutch ‘Rotterdam Act’ (Act on Extraordinary Measures for Urban Problems) is an ultimum remedium for persistent neighborhood problems such as concentrated poverty and criminality. The idea is that selective housing allocation benefits the local quality of life. Despite the fact that the origin and effects of the policy have been extensively researched, it remains insufficiently clear why increasingly more municipalities choose to introduce this policy. This development is remarkable, as evaluations show few convincing positive developments in the assigned neighborhoods and much criticism has been voiced about the discriminatory nature of the measure. By applying theories of policy diffusion, this study attempts to answer the question why the measure is gaining popularity. Using the event history analysis method – with data collected from council debates, council documentation, the ‘Leefbaarometer’ and ‘Findo’ – it has become clear that the municipalities in this region mainly follow nationally set norms drawn up and spread by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior. It also becomes clear that the municipalities are transformatively copying the policy from the municipality of Rotterdam: the municipalities are trying to shape their policy in such a way that it deviates from the ‘unsuccessful’ version of Rotterdam. The expectation of local councilmembers is that the chance of success is therefore higher, although the alternative version is not substantiated by thorough research. Thus, the policymakers are implementing the far-reaching policy despite substantial uncertainty about the results.

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