Uncovering Social Sustainability in Housing Systems through the Lens of Institutional Capital: A Study of Two Housing Alliances in Vienna, Austria
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. Uncovering the Conceptual Nexus between Bottom-Linked Governance and Institutional Capital in Housing Systems
4. Examining Civil Society Housing Alliances in Vienna, Austria
4.1. BAWO: An Alliance of Homelessness Service Providers
4.1.1. BAWO’s Endogenous Institutional Capital
4.1.2. BAWO’s Exogenous Institutional Capital: Genesis and Further Development
4.2. IGBW: An Alliance of Collaborative Housing Initiatives
4.2.1. IGBW’s Endogenous Institutional Capital
4.2.2. IGBW’s Exogenous Institutional Capital: Genesis and Further Development
5. Discussion and Implications
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Interviews | Type of Actor | Number of Interviews and Year | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
2014/15 | 2018 | 2020 | ||
Leaders and members of housing alliances | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
Institutional stakeholders | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
Focus Groups | Type of Actor | Number of Interviews and Year | ||
2014/15 | 2018 | 2020 | ||
Leaders and members of housing alliances | 1 | 1 | ||
Illustrative websites consulted | Initiative Collaborative Building & Living, https://www.inigbw.org/die-initiative/english (accessed on 14 July 2021) BAWO—Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe, https://bawo.at (accessed on 14 July 2021) Wohnfonds_Wien, http://www.wohnfonds.wien.at/english_information (accessed on 14 July 2021) Baugruppen in Aspern/Vienna, http://aspern-baugruppen.at (accessed on 14 July 2021) FEANTSA, https://www.feantsa.org/en/resources/resources-database (accessed on 14 July 2021) | |||
Illustrative secondary sources consulted | Temel et al. (2009), https://www.wohnbauforschung.at/index.php?id=340&lang_id=en (accessed on 14 July 2021) Gruber and Brandl (2014), https://www.inigbw.org/sites/default/files/literatur/2014-brandl_gruber-Projektbericht_Gemeinschaftliches_Wohnen_MA50wien_0.pdf (accessed on 14 July 2021) BAWO (2017) https://www.feantsa.org/download/bawo_2017_housing_for_all_longversion6629405791344905509.pdf (accessed on 14 July 2021) BAWO (2019) https://bawo.at/101/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Policy-Paper-English.pdf (accessed on 14 July 2021) |
Total Number of Main Residency Dwellings | Tenure Type (in%, Rounded) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
912,100 | owner-occupancy | rental housing | other tenures | |||
19 | 77 | 4 | ||||
Owner-occupied houses | Owner-occupied flats | Social rental housing | Privately rented flats | |||
6 | 13 | 44 | 33 | |||
Municipal rental flats | Non-profit rental flats | |||||
23 | 21 |
Key Messages | Description |
---|---|
Problematizing the context | While acknowledging Austrian’s housing policy intention to serve a wide range of sections of the population and the existence of legal foundations that correspond to the government’s objective to provide adequate housing for all (see the ‘Tenancy Law’ and the ‘Limited-Profit Housing Act’), the paper problematizes the actual organization of the housing policy. The contrarieties in the systems lead to an insufficient supply of housing for low-income groups, as well as access barriers due to institutionalization dynamics and the exclusion of these groups in the allocation of subsidized apartments. |
Housing for all: a way forward | The paper calls for adjustments in existing housing policy (especially rental market policy considering all three market segments: municipal housing, limited-profit housing and the private rental market), a closer cooperation between the housing and social sectors and a scale-up of specific and focused interventions (such as specific allocation systems and special living situations) to ensure that low-income people are reached in a better way and housing policies are organized according to a real focus on ‘Housing for all’. |
Material and social criteria | Material criteria: Affordability; Housing Quality; Housing Stability; Location; Accessibility. Social criteria: Social inclusion; Professional Services; Prevention; Voluntariness and Accessibility; Discrimination and Stigmatization Avoidance. |
Strategies and actions | 1. Strengthen the rental market 2. Make the tenancy law tenant-friendly again 3. Preserve and expand limited-profit housing 4. Improve the access to limited-profit housing 5. Make better use of occupancy rights 6. Expand municipal housing and ensure its accessibility 7. Encourage the usage of vacant apartments 8. Stimulate needs-based housing development 9. Make use of instruments in the zoning law towards affordable housing 10. Steps towards incomes that are sufficient to secure a livelihood 11. Standardize and increase financial benefits towards housing |
Key Messages | Description |
---|---|
New voices from the network | UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing; The Association for Housing Subsidies; Vienna University of Technology; Viennese Advisory Service for Homeless Assistance; Tenants’ Association of Austria; Architect, Town Planner and Activist; Vorarlberg State Government Office; Vienna Housing Service; EBG; Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection; Austrian Anti-Poverty Network; University of Vienna; Austrian Federation of Limited-Profit Housing Associations (GBVs); Central Bank of Austria; FEANTSA; Housing-Construction-Policy Forum; University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria; Statistics Austria; Vienna Chamber of Labor; European Citizens’ Initiative). |
Problematization of the context | The paper acknowledges the fact that the Austrian housing system has been cited as a best-practice example internationally and that housing quality has improved substantially over the years. However, the paper argues that indicators such as cost increases (particularly rising sharply over the past two decades), the lack of ratification of paragraphs 30 and 31 of the European Social Charter, which refer to poverty, social exclusion and housing, the lack of a permanent housing prospect bound by tenancy law and the availability and (over)use of homeless assistance services over time, show that housing in Austria has once again become a socio-political challenge and more efforts will be needed to secure an individually enforceable right to housing (BAWO Chair and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing). |
Housing First promotion | Access to a permanent tenancy—also in expensive/gentrified areas—is a starting point for social participation and integration of homeless people in their local community. Housing also has a destigmatizing effect and promotes independent living. |
Policies and Demands | 1. Implement the human right to housing 2. Strengthen the rental sector 3. Lower housing costs and effectively limit profits earned through letting residential properties 4. Strengthen the legal framework for sustainable housing 5. Ensure non-discriminatory and inclusive access 6. Create more affordable, permanent and inclusive housing 7. Establish measures for a living wage 8. Strengthen the social security system through social security funds 9. Implement vital social assistance benefits at Federal and State level 10. Standardize and increase monetary benefits for housing 11. Improve stability and quality of life through a good home environment 12. Expand Housing First and other mobile support services |
Comparing the Two Alliances in Terms of… | BAWO | IGBW |
---|---|---|
Membership | Small | Small |
Financial resources | Limited | Limited |
Geography of action/initiatives | Austria-wide | Mostly Vienna-focused |
Type of housing program | Affordable housing, Housing First | Collaborative housing (incl. CoHousing, Baugruppen) |
Populaton targeted | Homeless, ethnic communities, elderly, youth | Middle class Austrians interested in community living |
Promotion of resident involvement | Emphasis in their policy papers on people’s participation in the designing process of their houses and neighborhoods as well as the creation and attractiveness of shared facilities for people to meet and interact | Emphasis in their housing projects on residents’ participation and creation and use of community spaces |
Endogeous instutitional capital | Knowledge exchange among members, awareness-raising within the sector, advocacy strategy design | Knowledge exchange among members, awareness-raising mainly outside the sector, advocacy strategy design |
Exogenous institutional capital | Inter-institutional coalition building, expansion and/or consolidation of partnerships with institutional actors, policy experimentation | Expansion and/or consolidation of partnerships with institutional actors, policy experimentation |
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Paidakaki, A.; Lang, R. Uncovering Social Sustainability in Housing Systems through the Lens of Institutional Capital: A Study of Two Housing Alliances in Vienna, Austria. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9726. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179726
Paidakaki A, Lang R. Uncovering Social Sustainability in Housing Systems through the Lens of Institutional Capital: A Study of Two Housing Alliances in Vienna, Austria. Sustainability. 2021; 13(17):9726. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179726
Chicago/Turabian StylePaidakaki, Angeliki, and Richard Lang. 2021. "Uncovering Social Sustainability in Housing Systems through the Lens of Institutional Capital: A Study of Two Housing Alliances in Vienna, Austria" Sustainability 13, no. 17: 9726. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179726