How Eindhoven is embracing collaboration to aid growth
Working with the government and companies in the region, the city is overcoming many challenges.
The success of the Southern Dutch city of Eindhoven is undeniable. Once propelled to greatness by electronics giant Philips, the city is now the heart of the Brainport region, Europe’s high-tech hotspot, home to around 6,000 companies. Computer chip machine manufacturer ASML – born as a spin-off of Philips 40 years ago – is worth as much on its own as the five other largest companies in the Netherlands combined.
The company attracts dozens of knowledge workers from around the world each month. And according to City of Eindhoven estimates, each ASML employee generates almost three additional jobs in the supply chain, a significant portion of which are also located in the Eindhoven region.
All of this necessitates a large number of additional homes across all price ranges, as well as significant growth in services and amenities.
Success brings challenges
Eindhoven mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem says the city has been a “boom town” for at least two decades. And while it takes pride in its transformation and technical achievements, success has also brought challenges. The key to addressing these challenges lies in collaboration.
That’s how Eindhoven reinvented itself at the beginning of the century after Philips and truck manufacturer DAF, both headquartered in the city, fell on hard times in the 1980s and 1990s. Their troubles impacted heavily on the city due to the large numbers of jobs they supported there. By joining forces with government, knowledge institutions, and businesses, Eindhoven grew into the sustainable growth engine of the Netherlands.
“Collaboration is the only way to tackle our challenges,” says Dijsselbloem. This includes receiving billions of euros from the national government. “To fully leverage the potential of this high-tech region for the Netherlands and Europe, billions in public investments are needed. These are necessary for housing, people, and amenities. This growth is important because around Eindhoven, things are happening that make the world better and keep the Dutch economy strong.”
Around 800,000 people live in the Eindhoven region and it is heading towards a million. This requires 45,000 new homes in Eindhoven alone. The same number will be needed in the rest of the Brainport region. This growth is also being noticed in neighbouring provinces. Even Belgian municipalities are reaching out to Eindhoven, eager to assist in building homes for all the new residents. And also industrial estates to facilitate the growth of businesses.
Affordable homes a priority
ASML is also helping to enable the construction of affordable homes. Its growing number of employees are driving up demand for homes in the region, leading to higher prices. This is exacerbated by a shortage of homes. However, the increased interest rates, rising cost of construction materials, and capacity constraints among builders, are also pushing prices higher, making it more challenging for developers to make their projects financially viable.
Despite this, both Eindhoven and ASML deem it necessary to build in the affordable segment (social and mid-priced). Therefore, the chip machine maker has allocated a budget to provide financial support and/or guarantees to individual projects in this sector. The first results are already being seen: two housing projects can now start, which together will provide 380 affordable homes.
In addition, ASML is collaborating with municipalities and housing corporations in the region to establish a Brainport Housing Fund, which other employers can also join. This fund can facilitate 10,000 to 12,500 social and mid-priced homes.
Stimulating construction starts
To build more homes faster, the municipality is also considering what it can do itself. This includes introducing a package of measures to stimulate construction starts, and extensive collaboration with housing corporations, developers, and construction companies. And finally, by doing what the region has been very good at for more than 20 years: “seeing opportunities, seizing opportunities!”
But international (institutional and private) investment capital is also essential to meet housing construction challenges in Eindhoven and the rest of the Netherlands. “We are well advanced in the planning procedures and we are very interested in seeking investors,” says Dijsselbloem. “Preferably investors who are willing to invest in the region for the long term. And, given the economic development of the city, Eindhoven is a very interesting place for that.”
Meet and discover Eindhoven at PROVADA Amsterdam from 11-13 June at booth 12-32.
