Supporting policy analysis in the Dutch rail sector using System Dynamics

With a sizeable expected growth of demand for rail transport in the Netherlands in the coming decades, and limited resources for expansion of the rail network, intensified utilization of the infrastructure is to be expected. To adequately manage this growth, appropriate tools for policy analysis are needed. The possibilities and pitfalls of...

Dutch social housing sector reforms: Exploring the effects on low income households

Social rental housing ought to function as safety net for the lower income groups in the housing system. However, the Dutch housing system has a relatively large social housing stock in relation to other housing systems in Europe – larger than would be required for a safety net for lower income groups. Hence, households which are financially...

Energy transitions in Built Environment of Netherlands: A System Dynamics approach to diffusion of Solar boilers and Insulation

In context of rising demand for energy amidst limited resources, energy efficiency is one of the major concerns of a modernized world. Gas consumption in the built environment constitutes for more than 30% of the overall energy consumption in the world. Hence, energy transitions and their preferences in the built environment demand urgent...

Commissions for Environmental Impact Assessment: Their contribution to the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment

Map making and map use in a multi-actor context: Spatial visualizations and frame conflicts in regional policymaking in the Netherlands

In this thesis, the practice of map-making and map use is studied among actors involved in spatial planning and water management. The socio-technical mechanisms between knowlegde production and policymaking in Dutch regional planning make up the central object of study, with map images as observable artefacts. In many instances, maps seem to be...

Field research concerning contra-flow as a measure for massive evacuation

The present study concerns a practice test that aimed at investigating to what extent contra flow or reverse laning (Dutch: tegenverkeer) works well in the Netherlands and how participating car drivers evaluate it. Reverse laning may be a solution for a capacity problem in case all lanes of roads are needed to evacuate large areas. To that end,...

Supporting the Constructive Use of Existing Hydrological Models in Participatory Settings: A Set of “Rules of the Game”

When hydrological models are used in support of water management decisions, stakeholders often contest these models because they perceive certain aspects to be inadequately addressed. A strongly contested model may be abandoned completely, even when stakeholders could potentially agree on the validity of part of the information it can produce....

eParticipation in Dutch Municipalities: A measurement tool for the online participation of citizens

As the field of eParticipation is in the experimentation phase with a wide range of experiments and projects occurring, these efforts need to be converged and analyzed in order to provide a more complete evaluation of the current status of eParticipation within municipalities. Specifically, an overview is needed of the direction municipal...

Analysis of the Innovation Systems of Photovoltaic technologies in the Netherlands

Environmental problems and the dependence on fossil fuels led to increasing interest in renewable energy sources. Photovoltaic (PV) technologies can convert the light emitted by the sun directly into electrical energy. Therefore PV technologies are very promising and the expectations are high worldwide. Compared to neighboring countries like...

Electricity market of the future: Assessing economic feasibility and regulatory constraints for demand response aggregators in Europe

Recent developments in the demand response (DR) arena (PowerMatcher platform, Google’s NEST device, FAN communication standard, ENDAX platform etc.) indicate that the world is not becoming simpler. A complex set of interactions and mixtures at different levels of demand response aggregation can be expected in the near future. Given the goal of ...

Policy analysis for the Dutch rail sector using System Dynamics

With a sizeable expected growth of demand for rail transport in the Netherlands the coming decades, and limited resources for expansion of the rail network, intensified utilization of the infrastructure is to be expected. To adequately manage this growth a ppropriate tools for policy analysis are needed. Because of the unstructuredness of many...

Regions: Administrative level or void?: Case study on the emergence and implementation of regional arrangements on housing provision after Wgr-plus

Combining theories and techniques to model the decision-making behavior of homeowners: Formalization of an agent-based model to study the adoption and diffusion of solar PV systems in the Netherlands

The aim of this thesis is to define the specifications of an agent-based model to study the adoption and diffusion of solar PV in the Netherlands, accounting for consumer preferences and social influences. The conceptualization of the model is based on five pillars: agent-based modeling, the theory of planned behavior, choice modeling, dif-...

Preference or policy?: A study to investigate factors that influence the preference and behaviour of first time buyers

First time buyers have an important role on the housing market. First time buyers namely determine a large proportion of the movements on the owner occupied market (Marwijk, Pellenbarg, & Ruiter, 2014, p. 7) and are necessary to create liquidity at the lower end of the owner occupied market (Neuteboom & Brounen, 2007). Currently first time...

Balancing market performance in a decentralized electricity system in the Netherlands

Expropriation for spatial development: Possible improvements for the expropriation system in the Netherlands evaluated with an assessment scheme

Identifying and Managing the Success Factors behind the implementation of Systems Engineering

Contractors in the Dutch civil construction industry are adopting Systems Engineering (SE) into their work processes, to manage the increasingly complex and multi-disciplinary nature of their projects. The implementation rate of SE is low due to unknown problems caused by multiple factors. Currently, there is no overview of the factors affecting...