URBAN REVITALIZATION AND THE LABOR-MARKET PARADOX IN THE RANDSTAD

The urban revitalization policy in the Netherlands did not succeed in bringing down unemployment. Employment growth paradoxically ran parallel to high levels of unemployment which have an increasingly structural and localized character. Firstly, this article analyzes theoretically the relation between the revitalization policies and the labour market paradox with the help of the concept of hysteresis. Secondly, the spatial pattern of the urban labour market is analyzed. It is shown that the urban labour market paradox has a selective spatial pattern and development. Next, these findings are put in a framework of urban renewal and labour market policy. A concluding section stresses the need to revitalize spatial labour market policy by a larger differentiation among groups and areas.