Urban Densification Scan

With a shortage of 400.000 homes, the Dutch housing crisis is severe. The government's target of 100.000 homes per year cannot be achieved through new construction alone. For municipalities, optimizing the use of existing buildings and urban space is therefore an essential component in successfully tackling this local housing challenge.

The Urban Densification Scan is a digital visual discussion tool designed to support municipalities in determining, setting, and executing their ambitions for optimizing the built environment. This can be achieved, for example, through rooftop extensions, lateral extensions, ground-floor extensions, subdivision, and repurposing. An area-based approach is central to this process.

We are developing the scan in collaboration with 10 frontrunner municipalities and approximately 20 fast followers of varying sizes. This iterative development process ensures the scan evolves into a valuable, field-tested tool for local authorities.

‘Open’ and ‘closed’ data form the ‘DNA’ of every building in the Netherlands, serving as the baseline to assess the potential for various forms of densification. For example, roof size influences the potential for rooftop extensions. We also integrate other existing datasets, for instance, to provide insights into neighborhood livability.

Students from various disciplines contribute to the development and application of the scan through project-based learning, internships, graduation projects, or student assistantships.

Timo Walraven
- Researcher
- Research groups: Building Future Cities, Applied Urban Energy Transition
Mieke Oostra
- Professor
- Research group: Applied Urban Energy Transition
Wilko Planje
- Researcher
- Research group: Applied Urban Energy Transition