Simulating urban transformation in Haaglanden, the Netherlands

Abstract

This paper describes a group model-building project about new housing construction, urban renewal and the impact of both processes on a regional social housing market. A team of seven stakeholders participated in model construction over a 1-year period. The paper addresses the modeling process, model analysis and policy experiments. The model yielded several counterintuitive insights, helped the stakeholders to settle a contentious issue and was used in flight simulator workshops with managers and policy makers. By means of questionnaires, we found that most attendants in the project or workshops consider system dynamics modeling as improving communication, insight, alignment and commitment to results. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.