Vienna’s Dignified Subsidized Housing

An affordable development from 1930
photo: governing.com

More than half of Viennese households live in subsidized apartments.  The city’s regulatory influence over so much of its housing stock allows it to provide residents with inexpensive, high-quality apartments that incorporate amenities such as public transportation stops, theatres, saunas, libraries, medical clinics, and kindergartens.

Although older units were municipal projects, since the 1980s the private sector has played a more prominent role.  New units are constructed on land purchased by the city, but developed by private firms who compete for the contract.  Proposals are judged on more than just economics (construction costs about $200 per square foot).  Cost is just one of four equally weighted factors, which include architectural design, environmental performance, and social sustainability.  As a result, Vienna is home to some of the world’s most innovative public housing. 

Mixed-income communities are created by varying the subsidy amount provided to tenants.  In addition, tenants may continue to rent city-owned units even after they exceed income restrictions imposed on new applicants.  This model allows Viennese housing projects to avoid the ghettoization that plagues many public housing projects.