This paper first introduces American and Dutch strategies for providing social services along with low-income housing redevelopment. Although the two countries will not be systematically compared. The Europe urban renewal policies continue to face the challenge of effectively combining physical, economic and social strategies. In many respects Dutch housing policy differs dramatically from US housing policy which is connected partly to fundamental differences in welfare state regimes.

Whereas the US has a predominantly liberal welfare state regime and the Dutch situation combines elements of a social democratic and corporatist welfare state regime. The highly different nature of the welfare state regimes has impacted not only housing provision and general policy but also the nature of specific urban restructuring programmed.    In both the US and the Netherlands, housing authorities or housing associations are central actors in the combined process of forced residential relocation and service delivery. American PHAs are local organizations which own and manage local public housing and other housing programmed for low-income people.