Persistent structures of public housing in the face of changing dwelling practices. A case study of Vienna’s municipal housing stock

Abstract

Vienna has a significant history of social housing, dating back to the era of “Red Vienna” in the 1920s, and it currently maintains a high percentage of social housing that includes, to almost equal shares, municipal housing owned by the city of Vienna and dwellings built by limited-profit housing associations. This paper concentrates on municipal housing, which is the most affordable housing segment, and discusses challenges arising from changes in lifestyle and household arrangements in the light of a housing stock largely dating back to the interwar and postwar eras. Based on historical and statistical data on the housing stock, an analysis of the allocation mechanisms and in-depth interviews with housing seekers in Vienna, this paper identifies normative expectations arising from the architectural structure but also from the allocation practices of municipal housing which present challenges, for instance, to young adults wanting to share an apartment or to single parents. At the same time, this approach illustrates the potential of integrating a material culture perspective with a policy perspective that is commonly followed in housing studies for understanding how distinct social groups may face normative constraints in their household arrangements due to the features of the housing stock made available to them through specific access regulations.