

The Propaganda of Construction - tosh
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/10/the-propaganda-of-construction/

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tosh
Some interesting quotes:

> Currently, around 500,000 people live in the various apartment buildings
> owned and administered by the city. The 220,000 units within these buildings
> make up about 24 percent of all of the available housing in Vienna.

> In the years leading up to World War I, Vienna experienced a significant
> housing shortage, with many residents living in poor conditions as
> subtenants or “bed-renters” — up to half of the members of most workers’
> families did not have a bed to themselves, while roughly a quarter of the
> Viennese population was known to be relying on a homeless shelter system in
> 1912.

> The Wohnbausteuer or housing-building tax was placed on all rental
> properties, but structured so that top-tier properties funded the vast
> majority of proceeds — all dedicated to the construction of new communal
> housing. In 1925, the tax yielded 22.6 million schillings; in 1927, roughly
> 65 million. By the end of 1926, the city had already constructed 25,000
> units of new housing.

> The building program was a massive effort, involving around four hundred
> different architectural offices. The early buildings in particular show a
> wide variety of styles, although most are fairly modest. They tend to stay
> in keeping with existing building patterns, street profiles, and decorative
> flourishes. There were mandates to ensure that each unit would be well lit,
> have its own bathroom, water, gas, and electricity, and have easy access to
> the street or to a courtyard.

