2. The Housing Question:
• The capitalistic system ('the market') is
unable to provide the working class with
sufficient and affordable houses.
• The Bourgeoisie 'solves' the problem by
offering bad, overcrowded and unhealthy
housing conditions.
• Bad housing conditions are increasing
because of the sudden inflow of the
population to the big cities. 2
Friedrich Engels: About the Housing Question
1872/73
5. • To Buy or to Rent
• To concentrate on the urban poor or to integrate
different social classes
5
6. 1. To Buy or to Rent
Owner‐Occupied Social Housing Rental Social Housing
• Subsidized by the government
•Provide land and basic housing
facilities for free
• Controlled rent level
or
•Offer low prized (subsidized) • Owned and managed by Non‐
houses for sale Profit Organizations (Housing
Associations, Housing
or Corporations, Foundations,
•Offer financial support and/or Housing Co‐operatives)
tax reduction for owner‐
occupied housing • Distributed according to
social criteria
6
7. 1. To Buy or to Rent
Owner‐Occupied Social Housing Problems:
Large areas for poor people:
• Segregation – prisoner
effect
• Bad facilities and bad
infrastructure
• No attention for public
space
• Bad maintenance
Santiago de Chile • Security problems 7
8. 1. To Buy or to Rent
Exception:
Owner‐Occupied Social Housing Public Housing in Singapore
• Development of complete
Townships by Housing
Development Board (HDB)
• Maintenance of Housing
Blocks, Public Space and
Facilities by HDB
• Collective Housing
Improvement organized
and subsidized by HDB
8
9. 2. Target Groups
Social Housing accessible only Social Housing accessible
for the urban poor: for wide levels of the society:
• Low rent • Higher rent (individual
• Low production costs – aid for poor people)
low quality • Higher costs – higher
• High subsidies per unit quality
• Limited number of units • Lower subsidies per unit
(limited public means) • Large number of units
• Stigmatized areas: • Integrated areas: living
concentration of poor together of different
people ‐ segregation social classes 9
14. Housing Management
and Organization
• Almost all social housing units in the Netherlands are owned
by non‐profit Housing Corporations, acting as financially
independent entrepreneurs with social objectives and
obligations.
• Housing Corporations exist in two legal forms:
• Housing Associations
• Housing Foundations
• Housing Corporations (Associations and Foundations) are
working under supervision of the national and local
governments.
• Housing Corporations are obliged to reinvest their surplus into
housing. 14
15. Housing Management
and Organization
• On national level Housing Corporations own 34 % of the total
housing stock and 75 % of the rental housing stock.
• Housing Corporations are no longer limited to the
development of Social Housing units. They also are allowed to
develop mixed areas, integrating Social Housing, Owner
Occupied Housing and even commercial functions.
• Recently the Housing Corporations in Amsterdam are
responsible for the development of 60 – 70 % of the annual
housing production in the city. Half of the units belong to the
Social Housing sector.
• The sale of Owner Occupied Housing became an important
source of income to finance affordable Social Housing units. 15
16. Financial System
• Financial Framework of Social Housing
Social
Social
Housing
Housing Local
Local
Guarante
Guarante Bank
Bank Government
Government
Fund
Fund
Housing
Housing
Corporation
Corporation
State
State
Central
Central
Housing
Housing Tenant
Tenant
Fund
Fund
Own Financial Means
Own Financial Means
16
17. Individual
Aid
costs 0 exploitation 50 years
17
Social Housing: Costs, Exploitation and Subsidies
21. The Idea of Differentiated Housing
Milieu’s
• Housing no longer has to focus on the (statistical) average.
The city is a collection of minorities, each of them with special
demands, priorities and wishes.
• Housing has to be differentiated according to different life‐
styles, different patterns of behavior and different value
systems.
• The combination of compatible life‐styles is able to bridge
social contradictions and to contribute to social integration.
• To generate an integrated urban society, social housing has to
be combined with owner occupied housing and with other
urban functions.
• The combination with owner occupied housing and with
commercial functions can generate additional means to
21
improve the quality of social housing.
22. Differentiated Housing Mileu’s
Transformation of the
former Water Works in
Amsterdam
•300 units Social Housing
•150 units Owner
Occupied (subsidized)
•150 units Owner
Occupied (non‐subsidized)
•Small enterprize,
restaurant etc.
22
28. Differentiated Housing Milieu’s
Restructuring of the
Eastern Docklands in
Amsterdam
•Public Private
Partnership between
Municipality, Social
Housing Associations
and private Developers
•Ca. 5.600 units
•50 % Social Housing
•50 % Private Housing
28
36. Differentiated Housing Milieu’s
Rehabilitation of the Bijlmer
housing area in Amsterdam
•Origin: monofunctional
social housing area with
17.000 units
• Ca. 9.000 units in high rise
buildings have been
demolished
•The remaining blocks have
been renovated and
differentiated.
•New terraced houses and
single family houses have
been integrated.
36
45. The Case of Singapore:
Public Housing Program
• 84 % of the housing stock in Singapore is developed in the
framework of the Public Housing Program.
• An important aim of the Public Housing Program in Singapore
is to generate identity and committment in the multicultural
society.
• Most of the Public Housing units are sold to the residents.
Less than 10 % is rental.
• The Public Housing Program covers a wide range of different
housing types and sizes for different household types and
different income groups.
• The Public Housing areas are developed and maintained by
the Housing Development Board (HDB).
• Also the modernization and housing improvement is 45
organized by HDB in a collective way.
55. Conclusions:
• Social integration is a key issue of urban culture and urban identity.
• Social housing can ease the social contradictions, can support a more
integrated – more harmonious – urban society and in this way can
contribute to the sustainability of the city.
• However, social housing is not a singular solution. It has to be
embedded in a differentiated and on the same time integrating housing
policy that makes the city accessible and worth living for everybody.
• The quality of design is a decisive factor to make the living‐together of
different social classes acceptable, thus social integration possible.
• There is no general receipt for Social Housing. Social housing always has
to be adapted to local conditions and changing demands. 55
