Abstract Body

For the past 100 years, social housing projects have been built in The Netherlands in several ‘waves’. During some of these ‘waves’ there were particular ideas how to develop the green spaces around the social housing, while in other periods simply developing large amounts of houses fast was the main priority. Despite the good intentions with which these urban areas were once built, they have been under economic, social and environmental stress. Next to having income issues, their residents suffer from education deficits and physical and mental diseases. Also, at building, plot and street level social housing lacks key conditions to deal with the upcoming challenges of climate change. The already vulnerable residents of social housing will therefore be exposed to heat waves even more than average and with this the environmental inequity in cities will grow. Nature-based Solutions (NBS) can play a role to reverse these trends. In the Dutch ‘Pleasant Green Living’ project, the goal is to explore how NBS can fit within the physical, social, organizational and financial circumstances that define social housing practice. The project has set up NBS living labs in social housing blocks in the city of The Hague. Researchers, students, housing associations, landscaping firms, and the municipality worked together to upgrade inner gardens in three social housing blocks. With interviews and field visits current liveability issues were identified and used to develop more resilient designs of the inner gardens. We learnt that NBS are only going to contribute to people’s health if they are actively involved in the design, use and maintenance of their green spaces. To realize their involvement, housing corporations need to invest in trust and social relations. New designs developed by the students were received enthusiastically by residents and the relevant housing association and incorporated in their short term landscaping plans.