“Housing for the 21st Century: The Vienna Model”
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Wolfgang Förster, Head of Housing Research Department, City of Vienna
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Thursday, November 14 – 7:00 pm
Room 1425, SFU Harbour Centre
The City of Vienna has achieved extraordinary milestones with regard to public housing: today, about 60% of the Viennese population lives in municipally built, owned, or managed housing, and the city is clearly in control of the housing market. This stands in stark contrast to the United States, where, in most cases, the private market is the provider of housing and is often even relied upon to rehabilitate existing neighbourhoods and create new communities.
This successful model dates back to the days of “Red Vienna”, in the early 20th century, when the socialist government took an active interest in designing for the masses. That interest has since evolved into a housing-policy that has produced works by a host of prolific architects and studios over the years, such as those of Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Richard Neutra, and Margarete Schütte Lihotzky.
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Wolfgang Förster holds a PhD in architecture, planning and political sciences from the Universities of Vienna and Graz and has served as the head of the Vienna Housing Research and International Relations of the City of Vienna since 2001. He publishes frequently on public housing and urban renewal.
This event is co-sponsored with the SFU School for Contemporary Art.
