Housing policy and spatial inequality: recent insights from Vienna and Amsterdam

There is a broad consensus on the role of housing policy in the welfare state, with social housing in particular representing de-commodification efforts. the authors study the recent pathways of social housing in two European cities that are known for their large and integrated sectors: Amsterdam and Vienna. They find that both cities have undergone a tendency of housing re-commodification, stronger in Amsterdam than in Vienna. Looking at the interrelation of social housing and spatial inequalities in the two cities, the authors show that there is no direct link between the prevalence of social housing and the level of household income in a district. But in Vienna, the degree of socio-economic mix is higher in areas characterized by old private rental buildings. the authors also identify a trade-off between the two public policy objectives of socially targeted housing policies (typical of dual rental markets) and housing policies that encourage social mix (typical of unitary rental markets). Vienna and Amsterdam used to prioritize the second approach. With recent policy changes and a growing demand on the lowest price segment, however, this strategy is challenged: the spatial socio-economic mix tends to become less diverse, and although the social housing sector is increasingly catering to the poor, different accessibility barriers still encumber a targeted subsidy allocation.