The role of institutions in the morphology of housing areas

There are substantial differences in morphology between Dutch residential areas and those in the neighbouring regions of Flanders in Belgium and North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, despite similar geographic and socio-economic conditions. This paper explains how institutional settings, consisting of national regulation and nationwide practices in the development process, have contributed to the variations. To learn more about the role of ‘orgware’ that predetermines some morphological characteristics before urban design takes place, a comparison has been made between institutional settings across the countries involved. First, the most striking morphological differences between residential areas created between 1995 and 2005 were identified on three scales. Subsequently, it is shown how, why and when the differences between the institutions that govern the total development process (zoning, land assembly, land development, housing construction and sales) influence morphology. Important institutional differences concern the extent to which municipalities take part in the development process under private law, the time pressure exerted by rules on housing production and cost recovery, and the rules that increase the possibilities of small-scale, sometimes individual private, stakeholders taking part in the process as developers.