Fostering collaboration through developer competitions: the relevance of social relations for limited-profit housing in Vienna

Abstract

Against the background of a renewed housing crisis, a debate on the role and functioning of social housing has been sparked. To provide a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms of social housing provision, the paper explores the case of Vienna and approaches the issue on the level of social housing organizations. Although Vienna is often portrayed as a prime example of successful social housing provision, current debates lack a nuanced picture of the configuration of the sector and the organizations responsible for providing social housing. More specifically, we explore how the policy instrument of ‘developer competitions’ (DCs), through which public land is allocated to developers for the construction of subsidized housing, secures high housing qualities by fostering collaboration between limited-profit housing associations (LPHAs). By examining existing relationships between housing organizations, we uncover how these contribute to successful social housing provision. Employing a mixed-methods research design, that combines social network analysis with qualitative interviews, findings reveal the way in which social relations between LPHAs contribute to the pooling of resources at the organizational level, as well as knowledge-sharing and coherence at the sector level. This enables to secure the successful provision of social housing and the continuation of a stable sector.