Planning for affordable housing : Comparing models in Paris and Vienna

Sammanfattning

The right to housing exists in international law - each of us has a right to decent living conditions. Many countries have a national application of that right, making each country responsible for the housing situation of the people on its territory. Hence, cities often include policies in their urban plans to include housing facilities for those in need - social housings. Living in a city as Paris, where lots of people cannot find a decent housing situation or no housing at all, it comes as a wonder to know how those policies work. As a piece of comparison, in Vienna, Austria, more than half of the housing are publicly owned and housing is largely affordable, making it one of the best cities to live in, and a good piece of comparison. That is why I investigated the policies governing the construction of social housing in Paris and in Vienna to understand how those policy work. This study explores where the right to housing comes from in France and in Austria, how it is applied in those cities, which city planning document govern the construction of social housing, and if those policies help people to find a decent housing situation.