Vienna has never sold its housing stock, which is why today a quarter of all apartments belong to the city. How contemporary does the flagship model of social housing remain?
Queen Elizabeth II only visited Vienna once. And the then SPÖ mayor, Bruno Marek, knew where she should have her tea on that May day in 1969: in Ms. Chlumetzky’s two-room apartment in the Marschallhof in the 22nd district of Donaustadt.
Even today, the concept of council housing seems to be a source of great envy around the world. American city planners have recently been coming to Vienna. They’re struggling with homelessness and rising rents and want to see if the Vienna model can work in places like San Diego. Even the US newspaper “New York Times” called the Austrian capital a “tenant utopia”. Compared to other large cities such as Berlin, London or Paris, the increase in housing costs has so far been mild, and demands for expropriation are correspondingly rare.
But the situation is also getting worse in Vienna. Rental prices have increased by 80 percent since 2010, and it remains to be seen whether the low completions will cover future housing needs.
