Why the municipal matters: lessons from Germany and Portugal for addressing Europe's housing crisis

Julia Hartmann, Sónia Alves, Filipa Cabrita

Publikation: Konferencebidrag uden forlag/tidsskriftKonferenceabstrakt til konferenceForskningpeer review

Abstract

Over recent decades, many cities in Europe have experienced an increase in problems of housing affordability and supply for low- and middle-income groups. The development of adequate responses has become a topic of increasing public and political concern. It has also become an important theme in academic discussion. While research fields such as national and supranational political economy have laid out important dimensions of this discussion, there is also a growing recognition of the municipal level’s pivotal role in finding solutions to the housing crisis. It has been argued that a crucial factor for success is the degree of control the municipal government exerts over urban development and thus the development of new housing. Equally important, other research has found, is the degree of control that local residents themselves have over the development and management of their homes. These factors are both shaped by property and use rights. How such local policies come into being and what form they take is an important issue for research. In this paper, we compare two middlesized cities – Tübingen in Germany, and Evora in Portugal – that have already actively implemented such policies over several decades. We show how independently, they have developed similar, and radical, responses in terms of planning, active land management strategies and the involvement of resident cooperatives. While Evora’s urban expansion strategy goes back to the 1970s, Tübingen’s first
new urban quarters date back to the 1990s. By analysing not only how both municipalities have formulated and implemented their policies, but also how their approaches have evolved up to the present day, we aim to contribute to our understanding of policy generation – and to address the current and pressing issue of facilitating necessary change.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Publikationsdato2024
StatusUdgivet - 2024
Begivenhed18th Annual Conference of the International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (PLPR) - Munich, Tyskland
Varighed: 18 mar. 202422 mar. 2024
https://plpr2024.bole.ed.tum.de/

Konference

Konference18th Annual Conference of the International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (PLPR)
Land/OmrådeTyskland
ByMunich
Periode18/03/202422/03/2024
Internetadresse

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