ABSTRACT
In order to support a transition towards more sustainable policy and practice, this chapter argues extensively that the perceptions and motives of a wide range of actors must be clearly understood. Actors those who stand to lose out in conflicts between for example environmental protection and economic development will take action to defend their interests. This will hamper contributions to sustainable development. The chapter concerns on the importance of determining the underlying mechanisms that hinder actions that support sustainable housing development. It refers to the need for wide-ranging debate about the meaning of particular sustainable development issues. However, the traditional regional plan of Drenthe is rather limited in its possibilities, as it does not prescribe the 'target groups' for housing developments, or qualitative aspects of new housing such as the size of houses. As such, a block of flats for the elderly, a group with a high demand for housing, consume a large part of a municipality's housing allocation.
