Assessment of land and housing policy instruments for the provision of affordable housing in a European metropolis Case study: Nantes (France) Master Thesis Report Elsa Gallez July 2020 Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Hartmann (WUR) Co-supervisors: Dr. Isabelle Anguelovski (UAB), Dr. Francesc Baró (UAB) Second reviewer: Barbara Tempels (PhD) Registration number : 961220249080 Master in Urban Environmental Management Land Use Planning Group Master thesis - Report - Elsa Gallez - LUP - WUR - July 2020 Aknowledgment I would like to express my great appreciation to Dr. Thomas Hartmann for his supervision and valuable suggestions throughout the thesis process. I am also very thankful to Dr. Isabelle Anguelovski and Dr. Francesc Baró, without whom this thesis would not have been carried out. I am grateful for their constant support, their availability and their willingness to share their data. I would like to thank the academic staff members of the LUP department of WUR and all the researchers of the BCNUEJ, who provided me appropriate knowledge on land use planning and enhanced my critical thinking. I would like to thank my parents and siblings, who, besides their constant encouragements, were always available for debates. I could not thank enough my beloved partner, Rafael Montero, for his wonderful presence, support and understanding, during times of high and low tides. I am also particularly grateful to Marianne Wehbe for her availability and contacts in Nantes and to my friends, who in one way or another, participated to the accomplishment of this thesis. Finally, I would like to thank all the interviewees of Nantes who accepted to share their point of view on this complex and controversial issue. 1 Master thesis - Report - Elsa Gallez - LUP - WUR - July 2020 Table of content: List of figures .............................................................................................................. 3 List of tables ................................................................................................................ 3 List of acronyms .......................................................................................................... 4 Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 5 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 7 Societal problem ........................................................................................................ 10 Research questions .................................................................................................... 12 Research design ......................................................................................................... 12 Case study ................................................................................................................. 13 Theoretical framework .............................................................................................. 14 Policy analysis ....................................................................................................... 14 Land policy instruments ........................................................................................ 16 Implementation ...................................................................................................... 21 Effectiveness .......................................................................................................... 25 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 27 Research methods .................................................................................................. 27 Sampling methods .................................................................................................. 28 Population size ...................................................................................................... 28 Research methods and related theoretical concepts ............................................. 29 Data analysis ......................................................................................................... 34 Biases ..................................................................................................................... 34 Results ....................................................................................................................... 35 Effectiveness .......................................................................................................... 35 1. Objectives .................................................................................................... 35 2. Achievements ............................................................................................... 38 3. Effectiveness ................................................................................................ 45 Implementation ...................................................................................................... 50 1. Actors'roles .................................................................................................. 51 2. Implementation process and interactions ..................................................... 56 Political context ..................................................................................................... 58 1. Public policies .............................................................................................. 58 2. Challenges .................................................................................................... 62 3. Consequences ............................................................................................... 65 4. Political response ......................................................................................... 69 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 75 Conformance ......................................................................................................... 75 Performance .......................................................................................................... 80 Responses ............................................................................................................... 85 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 90 Conclusion and recommendations ............................................................................ 91 References ................................................................................................................. 94 Annex 1: Coding matrix .......................................................................................... 109 Annex 2: Interview schedule ................................................................................... 112 2 Master thesis - Report - Elsa Gallez - LUP - WUR - July 2020 List of figures Figure 1: Four ways of interventions. Retrieved from: Gerber et al, 2018b, p.15. © 2018 Jean-David Gerber, Thomas Hartmann, and Andreas Hengstermann and contributors. Figure 2: Hierarchy of the main urban plans in France. Own elaboration. Source: Carpenter, 2015. Figure 3: Actors and interactions in policy implementation. Adapted from: Public policy analysis by Knoepfel et al, 2007, p.213. © 2007 Peter Knoepfel, Corinne Larrue, Frédéric Varone and Michael Hill. 1: causal hypothesis; 2: intervention hypothesis. Figure 4: Comparison between the objectives and production of the different housing types delivered between 2010 and 2016 in Nante metropolis. Own elaboration. Based on the sources cited in the text. Figure 5: Share of housing types in the ZAC Bottière-Chênaie, comparison between objectives and production. Own elaboration. Based on the sources cited in the text. Figure 6: Share of housing types in the ZAC Euronantes, comparison between objectives and production. Own elaboration. Based on the sources cited in the text. Figure 7: Actors and interactions in policy implementation. Own elaboration. Inspired by: Public policy analysis by Knoepfel et al, 2007, p.213. Adapted to the situation of Nantes. Figure 8: Strategic orientations of the PLH 2019-2025: objectives of the share of housing types in new constructions. Own elaboration. Source of the data: NM (2019a), p.215. List of tables Table 1: Methodological framework and its related theoretical concepts. Own elaboration. Table 2: Policy documents analysed. Own elaboration. Table 3: Profiles of the interviewees and reference numbers in the text. Table 4: Share of housing types during the period 2010-2016: comparison between objectives and production per year (in absolute and relative numbers). Own elaboration. Based on the sources cited in the text. Table 5: Overview on the different housing types in Nantes metropolis and their respective assisted grants for homeownership. Own elaboration. *for a childless couple. Table 6: Overview on the different housing types in Nantes metropolis and their respective assisted grants for rental housing. Own elaboration. *for a childless couple. 3 Master thesis - Report - Elsa Gallez - LUP - WUR - July 2020 List of acronyms Acronym Meaning in French Translation in English AANM Accession Abordable Nantes Métropole Affordable homeownership Nantes Metropolis