Directing future social uses

The College of Mayor and Aldermen has agreed to make available for inspection the draft environmental plan amendment "Social use possibilities. It is no longer self-evident that buildings with social use possibilities can be used for every social initiative. Initiators who want to provide social services in such premises almost always have to apply for a permit. The City Council will make the final decision on this after the summer. 

Social services come in all shapes and sizes. From a family doctor to assisted living with care. Some of these functions are over-represented in certain neighborhoods. This can be to the detriment of livability. The amendment of the environmental plan is the next step towards a balanced distribution of social facilities throughout the city, taking into account what neighborhoods and districts need and can handle.

The right place

There was a lot of room in the zoning plans for social services. The disadvantage of this is that not always the right social services end up in the right place. This is why the environmental plan (the successor to zoning plans) is being modified. Organizations already working from a certain location can continue to do so. Organizations that want to expand, start something new in a particular building, or change their social services must, in most cases, apply for a permit to do so.

Strong neighborhoods and districts

Spatial Planning Alderman Marco Peters: "Our approach is to work on strong and livable neighborhoods and districts. By directing the establishment of social facilities, we ensure that these facilities land in the right place so that they can contribute to this. This also helps us to stop new cases of undesirable excessive clustering of facilities that cause neighborhoods to overflow and thus detract from livability."