Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER Collective private commissioning a path analysis of factors influencing perceived neighbourhood social cohesion and perceived social support from neighbours among residents living in Collective Private Commissioning projects in the Netherlands van der Wielen, G.J.M. Award date: 2017 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. 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(Kelly) van der Wielen June, 2017 (Image: Wijkkrant Wittevrouwen, 2012) COLOPHON Collective Private Commissioning A path analysis of factors influencing perceived neighbourhood social cohesion and perceived social support from neighbours among residents living in Collective Private Commissioning projects in the Netherlands Author G.J.M. (Kelly) van der Wielen ID-No.: 0873014 [email protected] University Eindhoven University of Technology Den Dolech 2 5600 MB Eindhoven Program Master of Science Architecture, Building and Planning (ABP) Master track Real Estate Management and Development (REMD) Department of the Built Environment Course Graduation project Real Estate Management and Development (7UU37) Graduation Supervision Committee First supervisor Ir. S.J.E. (Stephan) Maussen MRE Chair of Real Estate Management and Development Eindhoven University of Technology Second supervisor Dr. Ir. P.E.W. (Pauline) van den Berg Chair of Real Estate Management and Development Eindhoven University of Technology Third supervisor Prof. Dr. T.A. (Theo) Arentze Chair of Real Estate Management and Development Eindhoven University of Technology Type of document Master thesis Date of submission June, 2017 Version Final Master thesis Page 2 PREFACE This thesis represents the final product of my graduation project of the master track Real Estate Management and Development at the Eindhoven University of Technology. This graduation project was executed internally at the Real Estate Management and Development department under the supervision of three chair members of the master track. During my bachelor study Construction Management – Real estate development at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (2009-2013), I developed a growing interest in Collective Private Commissioning. At that time, I was already familiar with Individual Private Commissioning because a large part of my family, including my parents, have built their own dwellings, but Collective Private Commissioning was a form of project development I did not know yet. However, the way in which a group of like-minded individuals create their dwellings triggered my interest. It is a very intensive process and it requires a lot of dedication, time, and perseverance of the individuals. Nevertheless, many success stories have been realised in the Netherlands. Since my interest has continued to exist over the years, my choice for Collective Private Commissioning as my graduation subject was made quite fast when I saw this subject on the list with graduation topics. My choice to focus on neighbourhood social cohesion and access to neighbour-support was, however, made less quickly. Eventually, I chose these subjects because I was less familiar with them, and I knew, despite the fact that these subjects received quite a lot research attention in the last decades, there was still plenty to investigate, especially in the field of Collective Private Commissioning. Combining Collective Private Commissioning, neighbourhood social cohesion and access to neighbour-support has resulted in this thesis. I want to express my gratitude to my supervisors from the Eindhoven University of Technology. Without them, this result would not have been accomplished. I want to thank Stephan Maussen and Pauline van den Berg for their enthusiasm, commitment, and guidance with regard to the content of my graduation project. Stephan’s knowledge on Collective Private Commissioning helped me to create a better understanding of what Collective Private Commissioning in practice entails. Moreover, Pauline’s knowledge on quantitative scientific research helped me to perform the analyses in SPSS and LISREL and to interpret the results of these analyses. Furthermore, I want to thank Theo Arentze for his guidance. Theo’s feedback helped me to critically look at the design of my research. In addition, I want to thank Mandy van de Sande-Van Kasteren (TU/e) for her guidance with the development of the online questionnaire and I also want to thank Mariëlle Kruizinga (TU/e) for her help with the preparations for the data collection and the reception of the returned questionnaires by mail. I also want to thank the residents of the new construction CPC projects in the Netherlands who took the time to fill in my questionnaire. Their help was crucial for the completion of this study. Moreover, I want to thank my parents and brother for their unconditional support, welcome distraction, and motivational words when needed during my entire study, including the graduation project. My time as a master student was not always easy. It required a lot of perseverance. Without their support, I would probably not have obtained my master’s degree. Likewise, I also want to thank my friends and fellow students for making my time at the university more enjoyable. Eindhoven, June 2017 G.J.M. (Kelly) van der Wielen Master thesis Page 3 SUMMARY Abstract Social support is important for people’s health and well-being. Anyone can sometimes use some social support and neighbours can play an important role in this support. Collective Private Commissioning (CPC) could potentially contribute to a higher level of neighbourhood social cohesion and, therefore, could be an interesting type of development where neighbours support each other. However, neighbourhood cohesion and access to neighbour-support received surprisingly little research attention in the field of Collective Private Commissioning. Therefore, this study analysed the influence of individual-, household-, social network-, CPC project- and neighbourhood characteristics on perceived neighbourhood social cohesion and perceived social support from neighbours among the residents of new construction CPC projects in the Netherlands. These relationships were analysed using a path analysis based on data collected in 2016 from a survey of 412 respondents in 60 new construction CPC projects in the Netherlands. The results indicated that characteristics of the CPC project play an important role in neighbourhood cohesion and access to neighbour-support. Key words: Collective Private Commissioning, neighbourhood social cohesion, social support, neighbours. Introduction In recent years, the participation society has become more visible in the Netherlands. Citizens are expected to be active in the public domain and to address all kinds of matters that extend beyond their individual interests (Van de Wijdeven et al., 2013). According to Tonkens (2008), an active citizen has four appearances: responsible, caring, decent, and deliberative. Lately, much attention has been paid to the caring citizen, as reflected in the Dutch government policy (e.g. Social Support Act). Citizens should take care of themselves and of others and should rely less on the collective regulations of the government (Verhoeven et al., 2013). As a result, the social network of Dutch citizens plays an increasingly important role in obtaining social support. Having access to social support is not only important for frail people. Everyone needs some social support now and then. In the last decades, social support received enormous attention from gerontology as well as other disciplines, such as psychology, and medicine (Chalise et al., 2007; Phillips et al., 2008). Interest in the concept of social support increased due to the belief that the availability of support may positively affect a person’s health and well-being (Sherbourne and Stewart, 1991). Previous studies stated that social support is associated with better health (Stephens et al., 2011; Gale et al., 2011), better well- being (Phillips et al., 2008; Cramm and Nieboer, 2014), less depression (Kaniasty and Norris, 1992; Li et al., 2015; Forsman et al., 2011), less loneliness (Kearns et al., 2015; Kahn et al., 2003), less psychological distress (Wethington and Kessler, 1986), less anxiety (Kaniasty and Norris, 1992), improved life satisfaction (Kahn et al., 2003;), improved satisfaction with participation