Building Good Neighbors

Presentation of a research project as part of the "Jeudis de la Maison Suger", a residents' research seminar.

Michael Huberman, trained at the University of Toronto, works on topics in modern economic history, with a special interest in globalization and labor markets. Between 2012 and 2022 he held the Chaire in "Etudes américaines" at the University of Montreal. He was a Fulbright scholar at UCLA and has taught at the University of Genève and the University of Vienna.

Presentation of the project

"Between 1923 and 1933, the city of Vienna pursued an extensive social housing program. The municipality constructed and operated 335 buildings (Gemeindebauten) and 60,000 apartments. My research evaluates the effects of the construction boom on Viennese neighborhoods. Using detailed information on the location of firms, bathhouses, and occupations, I challenge the view that non-market housing tends to lower nearby land values, drive out high-income residents, and choke urban growth. I find that social housing was a driver of economic prosperity. Business enterprises clustered around the new buildings because they were a source of labor supply and consumer demand. Workers flocked to the buildings because of the material and social amenities they afforded. The Gemeindebauten transformed Vienna into a polycentric city of vibrant neighborhoods."

Speaker

• Michael Huberman, trained at the University of Toronto, works on topics in modern economic history, with a special interest in globalization and labor markets