Housing? The Real Problem of Politics

The housing crisis, no matter how much illusion one harbors, will never be solved by economics. Neither in Portugal nor in the rest of the Western world, where the lack of affordable housing for ordinary citizens has become a glaring problem, especially among young people. The solution will always have to be political. But politics seen in its noblest and most comprehensive sense, not that of petty intrigue and easy solutions that so often plague our daily lives. In other words, politics characterized by the sound management and administration of community affairs, focused on solving problems and creating a better standard of living.

Leaving the market to operate without restraint and with scant regulation has led us to the situation we see today in major cities, both in Portugal and elsewhere in Europe. The problem is that we are now mired in a deep, structural crisis that will inevitably take years to resolve. And it won't disappear with "quick and miraculous" solutions or with the announcement of housing construction, as we will see in the coming months in the run-up to the October 12th local elections. No matter how good their oratorical skills or their best intentions, no mayoral candidate in the major metropolitan areas will be able to fulfill, alone, the promise of solving the housing problem in the municipality they lead.

As history has shown, housing crises can be resolved with genuine public policies and, above all, with extensive planning and coordination. This was the case in the devastated Europe after World War II, or later, in the large urbanization projects that fueled the growth of cities—with the indispensable help of millions of immigrant workers.

In Portugal, we also have good examples of the state's role in this area, as occurred in the 1990s with the Special Rehousing Plan (PER), which eradicated slums in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto. And we cannot forget the exemplary plan for the Alvalade neighborhood, designed to extend Lisbon's urban area, with a near-perfect mix of affordable apartments and homes for the middle and upper-middle classes. But not only that: Alvalade was built as a "city within a city," thanks to an urban plan that remains relevant, harmonious, and efficient to this day, blending gardens and commercial and leisure spaces with cultural facilities, schools, places of worship, and even a top-tier sports facility for its time.

Keeping the necessary distances, the Alvalade neighborhood is the closest we have to what was done in Vienna, the Austrian capital, which is now unanimously considered the city with the model most immune to the current housing crisis—although it is already showing some cracks. In other words, there is a strong predominance of affordable housing, albeit integrated into an urban fabric where various economic strata intermingle.

In Vienna, currently, about half of the homes are "social housing," but without the "weight" that term still carries among us. That's why Oeiras City Council President Isaltino Morais is right to always refer to "municipal neighborhoods" rather than "social housing" in all his public interventions, combating a meaningless stigma. In the Austrian capital, the city government, together with housing cooperatives and non-profit mutual associations, remains the main landlord. And urban plans prioritize the construction of a true city life, where people can travel to school or work on foot or by public transportation.

Vienna's example, however, is difficult to replicate today. For a simple reason: it is the fruit of a "utopian" idea, initiated over a century ago, in 1920, in what was called "Red Vienna," when "left-wing radicals" seized power in the city and, with the help of the elite intellectuals and artists who were proliferating there at the time, devised an ambitious plan to create housing for the working class. The model, though utopian, proved resilient and extremely efficient. And it was always based on a firm demand for planning and public policies that consider access to housing as the top priority for citizens. A century later, this is exactly what we need to solve the housing crisis: more utopia and a will to act.