By 2040 a quarter of the Dutch population consists of elderly people. This increasing number of elderly will lead to a higher demand for healthcare, but the healthcare sector is already overburdened by the high demand and shortages of professionals. Therefore, elderly have to live independently for as long as possible and enough suitable ageing-friendly housing is necessary. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Many seniors find themselves residing in homes designed for families. Especially when living alone, these houses are often excessively spacious and unsuitable for ageing in place. However, alternatives to move to are not available or do not suit their needs, because they are for example not in their current neighbourhood or not affordable. At the moment the housing construction is stalled and housing plans can take many years, so it is necessary to focus on opportunities. This study focuses on addressing this issue by exploring the potential of transforming postwar neighbourhoods into ageing-friendly living environments, because research shows that solutions can be found in the existing urban context of the postwar neighbourhood.

The research investigates the architectural and spatial elements necessary for creating ageing-friendly environments through a comprehensive analysis of existing literature, case study and by going on a fieldwork week to an real-life example of a residential facility where elderly people live together as a community. The results about housing preferences and needs of elderly people are translated into design guidelines for an elderly-friendly living environment divided into three scales: neighbourhood, building block and dwelling. The characteristics of and problems in the Dutch postwar neighbourhood and the possibilities for transformation are described through analysed literature. The research identifies strategies for renovating and repurposing existing housing stock, as well as incorporating new construction to meet the housing needs of the elderly population.

Overall, this research contributes to the construction of ageing-friendly living environments, improves housing conditions for the elderly in the Netherlands and offers insights into the transformation of the postwar neighbourhoods. To create an ageing-friendly living environment in postwar neighbourhoods, the most important topics need to be addressed on the basis of implementing the guidelines and therefore transformation in the postwar neighbourhood is necessary. Many homes, especially those designed for families, lack wheelchair accessibility and elevators. The green surroundings of postwar neighbourhoods can encourage elderly to spend time outdoors. So, making better use of this rich green and water structure is recommended. For the transformation of postwar neighbourhoods four categories of interventions are possible: splitting and expanding of existing dwellings, surgical interventions to make use of unused space, restructuring by demolishing and building new and building at the edges of the neighbourhoods where infrastructure becomes available due to the expecting reducing use of cars. Family houses and apartments can be split into multiple houses and residential buildings could be renovated, to expand, improve the look, improve sustainability, upgrade the plinth by adding other functions and make houses ageing-friendly by adding for example elevator access and renovating bathrooms. Hereby, the guidelines for an ageing-friendly living environment have to be implemented. Considering the shrinking households and the prevalence of elderly individuals living alone, transformation strategies should focus on densification with diversity in housing types, diverse residents, mixed-use and the creation of a sense of community.

Halfway through the twentieth century, the Netherlands started draining the Zuiderzee in the middle of the country, to create the province Flevoland. Flevoland consists of three parts, the Noordoostpolder, Southern Flevoland and Eastern Flevoland, where among others the town Dronten is located. Nowadays, the municipality of Dronten counts over forty thousand residents, though eighty years ago this piece of land was nothing more than a stretch of seawater. Even before the land of Eastern Flevoland was fully reclaimed, designs for its layout were being made. The first concrete plans of building ‘new town’ Dronten started in 1958 and a few years later the first houses were built on a freshly reclaimed piece of land. In this implemented plan, municipality Dronten consists of only three towns: Dronten, Biddinghuizen and Swifterbant. Initially, however, there were other plans where the municipality of Dronten would consist of multiple small towns, in Dutch called kernen, around the centre Dronten. Due to changes in mobility and experiences of other projects, these plans developed.

Creating freshly reclaimed land into a municipality and multiple towns is quite a unique situation. Since this was the case in Flevoland, a new piece of land without any history, people came from all over the country to start a new living environment and community. Starting a new society gives accordingly the opportunity to do things completely different, whether the possibility exist that new residents take old habits and values with them. Therefore it is interesting to gain more insight in how issues such as social cohesion are taken into account by the planning, designing and development of a new municipality and a town such as Dronten. Based on this topic, the following research question for the thesis arises: To what extend is social cohesion recognisable in the spatial planning and urban designs of the period 1950 until the 1980 of municipality and ‘new town’ Dronten?