New ways of working, new ways of living...What housing and planning implications? Ontologies and governance of live-work mix. A comparison of Amsterdam, Brussels and Stockholm

The ‘flexibilisation’ of labour markets has led to the blurring of the work and home spheres, which has had implications on housing and planning. This thesis addresses the ‘live-work mix’, that is, the renewed intertwining of living and working activities in new housing production and urban development. This phenomenon is related to the focus on new target groups, the restructuring of housing provision and changes in urban agendas. The research addresses three overarching questions: (i) what are the different ontologies of live-work mix in contrasting institutional frameworks, (ii) what kind of governance arrangements are used to implement live-work mix and (iii) how do institutional frameworks influence the nature and governance of live-work mix. An embedded, comparative case-study analysis was conducted to tackle these questions, with three cities as main cases (Amsterdam, Brussels and Stockholm) and a typology of live-work mix as embedded cases. The analytical framework draws on path dependency and an institutionalist approach to collaborative governance.
The first part of the thesis compares the housing and planning regimes as well as live-work mix strategies of the case-study cities. The analysis confirms the impact of early planning directions and shows how factors, such as historically dominant actors, impact local ontologies of live-work mix. Nevertheless, current issues conditioning live-work mix, such as the flexibilisation of tenure, apply across contexts. The second part explores the governance of live-work mix. The results indicate that local governments’ intervention is essential in live-work development, whereas market parties remain focused on residential development. Live-work mix also requires new instruments and strategic uses of existing tools. Although the actors share interests to enhance the attractiveness of a specific location for target demographics, divergent views, for instance, about the nature of live-work mix can affect their collaboration. As a result, the projects delivered are likely to favour housing, and affordability and accessibility issues can arise.
A comprehensive discussion reconnects the empirical findings to the conceptual framework. It confirms that live-work mix is purposed for specific groups and draws on the emergence of new (commodified) housing forms in locations prioritised in urban agendas. Although institutional frameworks affect several variables of live-work mix, the implementation of live-work goals is not always more effective in more regulated frameworks. The discussion closes with suggestions for the regulation and governance of live-work mix that will inform planners and decision-makers on a phenomenon that is likely to expand in the future.