Conference: Social housing policies – Land, economy, society.

I was pleased to take part in the conference “Social housing policies – Land, Economy, Society” the last two days. The event was organised by the Weimar Housing Research Group at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. I was a moderator for a thought-provoking evening lecture by Dr Anne Kockelkorn from ETH Zurich. The lecture, entitled “Housing after the neoliberal era. Architecture, the city and the money”, was commented by Prof. Stephan Lessenich from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. More details on the conference, including the program, is available under this link (in German): https://www.uni-weimar.de/de/architektur-und-urbanistik/institute/ifeu/forschungresearch/boden-wirtschaft-gesellschaft/

 

New book free to download: Gentrification in Vienna.

The book I edited together with Mara Verlic “Gentrifizierung in Wien: Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Politik und Praxis [Gentrification in Vienna: Perspectives from research, politics and practice]” has now been officially released. It is available for free download at the link below. You can also order a free copy with the funder of the book, the Chamber of Labour Vienna, under stadt@akwien.at. Here is the link to the free download: https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/file?pi=AC15357509&file=AC15357509.pdf 

The book is the first edited volume on gentrification in Vienna. It includes contributions by Walter Matznetter, Christoph Reinprecht, Lilli Bauer, Gerhard Hatz, Mara Verlic, Walter Rosifka, Christina Liebhart, Camilo Molina, Projekt Grätzeleltern, Yvonne Franz, Michael Friesenecker, Elke Rauth, Katharina Hammer, Judith Wittrich, Marc Diebäcker, Renate Blum, Lukas Tockner, Sarah Kumnig, Roswitha Harner, Christian Bartok und Ronald Schlesinger.

New encylopedia entry: Red Vienna 1919-1934.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve contributed a piece on Red Vienna together with my colleague Johannes Suitner to the Wiley Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies. The online version was just released and is available here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0259 If you happen to have no access to the paper but would like to read it just drop me an email. I’m posting the abstract below.

Red Vienna 1919-1934

“Red Vienna” refers to a phase of urban development in Vienna, Austria, between 1919 and 1934. Inspired by ideas of municipal socialism, the Social Democratic Workers’ Party implemented local social reforms to improve the living conditions of the working class. Policies were aimed particularly at the fields of housing, welfare, and healthcare, as well as education. While Red Vienna came to an end more than 80 years ago, the reforms continue to shape Vienna’s urban development today. Moreover, Red Vienna remains a key reference point in contemporary debates about egalitarian and progressive modes of urban planning.

New radio show: Gentrification in Vienna

I’ve had the pleasure to appear on the national radio broadcaster ORF OE1 last week together with Mara Verlic to talk about our new book: Gentrification in Vienna. I’m posting a summary of the announcement of the show below. The show is available here: https://oe1.orf.at/programm/20190425/550473.  (in German)

 

Aufwertung und Verdrängung durch Gentrifizierung.

Der Begriff “Gentrification” stammt aus dem England des 19. Jahrhunderts und hat sich im Lauf der 1970er und 1980er-Jahre zu einem Untersuchungsfeld der Soziologie, Geographie, der Wirtschafts- und der Kulturwissenschaften entwickelt. In der Anfangszeit wurde die Aufwertung von verelendeten Arbeitervierteln in Manhatten, wie zum Beispiel in Soho, analysiert.

Die Stadtsoziologin Mara Verlic und der Stadtforscher Justin Kadi haben einen Sammelband über Gentrifizierung in Wien herausgegeben. Mit Natasa Konopitzky sprechen sie über einige der Fragen, die darin diskutiert werden: Welche Viertel entwickeln sich zu lukrativen Anlageobjekten für Immobilieninvestoren? Wie viel Gentrifizierung ist sozial verträglich? Führt Gentrifizierung zur fortschreitenden Kommerzialisierung von öffentlichen Plätzen? Wie kann das Mietrechtsgesetz der Gentrifizierung Einhalt gebieten? Welchen Einfluss hat der kommunale Wohnbau?

New paper out on the geography of gentrification research.

I’ve a new paper out in the journal The Public Sector. I’m posting the abstract below. The paper is available open access here: http://oes.tuwien.ac.at/sektor/periodical/titleinfo/3502228?lang=en

Which cities are studied? Probing the geographical scope of 40 years of gentrification research

Picking up on debates about the narrow geographical focus of gentrification research, this paper probes the geographical scope of internationally published gentrification research over the last forty years. While recent critique of geographical selectivity has particularly addressed the Global North/South divide, we focus on differences within the Global North and analyze the relevance of different European capital cities (all EU28 capitals). We conduct a bibliometric analysis based on the SCOPUS database. The analysis is structured along three dimensions: the development of publication output over time across all cities (1), the number of publications on different cities across the whole period of analysis (2) and the development of publications in different cities over time (3). We find a highly skewed distribution of publication output on gentrification in European capital cities, dominated by London and three other West European cities. The longitudinal analysis reveals, however, that the geographical scope has become broader in recent years.

New paper out in European Planning Studies.

I’ve a new co-authored paper out together with Michael Getzner in European Planning Studies. I’m posting the abstract below. The full paper is available open access here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09654313.2019.1604634

Determinants of land consumption in Austria and the effects of spatial planning regulations

Michael Getzner  & Justin Kadi 

A substantial area of permanently habitable land in Austria is already sealed to be used for residential, commercial, and infrastructural purposes. Although the annual land consumption used for these purposes has slightly decreased over the last 20 years, it is still at an alarmingly high rate. In 1996, the daily land consumption corresponded to over 30 hectares, while it dropped to about 10 hectares in 2016. In this paper the determinants of land consumption were confirmed within the econometric framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). In the EKC it is assumed that there is an inverted-U shaped connection between the GDP and land consumption. In this conceptual framework, the effectiveness of spatial planning frameworks, such as the Austrian Spatial Development Concept (ÖREK), was tested. The results show that, in Austria, there is a general trend towards a decrease in land consumption. The effectiveness of spatial planning frameworks is, however, not discernible from the general influence of an increase in the GDP. Both the increasing scarcity of land (reflected in the increasing land prices) and the increased efficiency of the use of land (as a result of population density and urbanization), contribute to the reduction of land consumption. This indicates that additional and more effective policy instruments, such as brownfield and inward development, land mobilization strategies, higher land taxes and urban contractual agreements are all urgently needed to reduce land consumption to much lower sustainable levels.

 

KEYWORDS: Land consumption, land sealing, environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), spatial planning frameworks

 

New book in print! Gentrification in Vienna.

It has been bugging me for quite a while that there is no book that provides a general overview of gentrification in Vienna. But there will be one very soon! I had the pleasure to edit the first volume on this issue together with Mara Verlic. The book “Gentrifizierung in Wien: Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Politik und Praxis” [Gentrification in Vienna: Perspectives from research, politics and practice] aims to provide a state of the art overview of scholarly and practical knowledge on gentrification in Vienna. It brings together researchers and practitioners that write on gentrification from different perspectives. The book was funded by the Chamber of Labour in Vienna and will also be published in their book series Stadtpunkte. To get the debate going, there will be a book launch on May 6, 9:00-13:00 at the AK Wien. Authors will present their findings and there will be time for discussion and exchange. I’m posting the schedule for the event below. Unfortunately for all English speakers the book as well as the event will be in German. The book will be available in print at the event.

Wann: Montag, 06. Mai 2019, 9:00 – 13:00 Uhr
Wo: Hörsaal der TGA Plößlgasse 13, 1040 Wien, 4. Stock
Anmeldung: bis Montag, 29. April 2019 unter stadt@akwien.at Continue reading →

New book chapter: Stauraum in Zeiten der Wohnungskrise.

I have contributed a short chapter to a new book on self storage spaces. My chapter “Wenn der Platz eng wird: Stauraum in Zeiten der Wohnungskrise” [When space gets scarce: Storage rooms and the housing crisis] explores the growing relevance of self storage in the context of the current urban housing shortage. The book is related to the new exhibition on self storage spaces “Wo Dinge Wohnen: Das Phänomen Self-Storage” that is on display at the Wien Museum until April 7. I’m posting the blurb of the exhibition below.

Welche Dinge heben wir auf, und welche geben wir weg? Darüber entscheidet nicht nur der praktische oder emotionale Wert eines Gegenstands, sondern auch der vorhandene Platz zur Aufbewahrung – vor allem in der Stadt, wo Stauraum im eigenen Wohnhaus zunehmend Mangelware wird. Wenn klassische Lagerräume wie Dachböden verschwinden und steigende Mieten den Umzug  in eine größere Wohnung unerschwinglich machen, stellt sich die Frage: Wohin mit den Dingen, die immer mehr werden?

Eine Option sind „Selfstorages“ – flexibel anmietbare Lagerabteile, die fast rund um die Uhr zugänglich sind. Das Geschäftsmodell der „Selbsteinlagerung“, das in den 1960er Jahren in den USA entwickelt wurde, ist in Österreich zwar noch relativ neu. Doch seit vor 20 Jahren das erste Selfstorage  in Wien eröffnet wurde, wachsen auch hier das Angebot und die Nachfrage rasant.

Die Ausstellung „Wo Dinge wohnen“ fragt nach den Gründen und Rahmenbedingungen für diesen Trend – und danach, welche Personengruppen diese neu geschaffenen Räume in welcher Form nutzen. Was erzählt das Phänomen Selfstorage über gegenwärtige Stadtentwicklung? Welche Rolle spielen beschleunigte Lebensstile und wachsende Anforderungen an Mobilität und Flexibilität? Und welche Lebensentwürfe und biografische Einschnitte spiegeln sich in der Nutzung von Selfstorages wider?

Herzstück der Ausstellung bilden Porträts von Wiener Selfstorage-Nutzer_innen und ihren ausgelagerten „Schätzen“ – vom Familienarchiv bis zum „Kleiderschrank außer Haus“. Sie erzählen nicht nur von persönlichen Strategien im Umgang mit der Knappheit von Raum und der Flut der Dinge, sondern auch von der Bedeutung von Gegenständen für die eigene Geschichte und Identität. (Source: https://www.wienmuseum.at/de/ausstellungen/aktuell/ansicht/wo-dinge-wohnen-das-phaenomen-selfstorage.html)

Research exchange: Airbnb in European cities.

Last week, I was invited to Berlin to meet with a research team from TU Darmstadt and TU Berlin that works on the impact of urban tourism on housing quality in four neighborhoods in Berlin. The team consists of Prof. Sybille Frank, Prof. Kristin Wellner, Dipl-Soz. Anna Raschke, Dipl. Volkswirt Claus Müller and Stefan Brandt, MA. The project is funded by the DFG (German Science Foundation). I was happy to share some insights into our ongoing research on Airbnb in Vienna, particularly regarding our website project wherebnb.in. More info on the Berlin project can be found on this website: https://www.ifs.tu-darmstadt.de/index.php?id=3916

 

ENHR Housing research workshop in Vienna.

I’ll co-organize a workshop of the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR) in Vienna in May. This is a collaboration with Richard Ronald (University of Amsterdam), Caroline Dewilde (University of Tilburg), Aideen Hayden (University College Dublin) and Paddy Gray (University of Ulster). I’m posting the call for papers below. Check out the workshop website.

Between Property Wealth Accumulation and Private Renting

Vienna, May 16-17, 2019

Call for papers

The Home Ownership and Private Rented Markets ENHR Working Groups are joining forces in 2019 to host a collaborative workshop on the theme; Between Property Wealth Accumulation and Private Renting. In recent years the decline in home ownership across European societies has been marked by a corresponding revival in private rental housing. While owner-occupied housing remains the preferred tenure in policy, state interventions have done little to reverse tenure realignment. Transformations in tenure structures are argued to have begun with financial restructuring preceding the economic crises of a decade ago. Since then however, imbalances between  property investors, private owners and renters have intensified. These differences are not only reinforcing existing social gaps in wealth and income, but are characteristic of emerging economic processes and global patterns of socioeconomic inequality in the 21st century. Papers in this workshop will address traditional issues and new innovations in owner-occupied and private rental housing sectors. A number of papers will also address the links between them as well as the broader social, economic and political implications. Those interested in attending or presenting a paper at this workshop should send an email expressing their interest as well as a short abstract (up to 200 words) to the workshop organizers (see below).

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