3 ms·
> There seems to be a general lack of political will for big projects in the west. The spectacular thing about the housing crisis is that you don't even need a
by dionidium 4y ago
> There seems to be a general lack of political will for big projects in the west.
The spectacular thing about the housing crisis is that you don't even need any big government projects. It just needs to be legal for private actors to build housing. On most plots of land today it is not legal to build anything but a single-family home, so cities are no longer able to naturally densify over time (just like every single modern city did 100 years ago, so that they could become the cities they are today).
- rich_sasha 4y agoMy impression from the UK, which seems to have a similar housing shortage and restrictive zoning laws, is that there is another piece to this jigsaw, namely infrastructure. There are a fair few housing developments in the UK which provide the quantity and density needed, but eg don't have sufficient roads to support the increased traffic, causing gridlocks. Similar story for schools or shops.
- llampx 4y agoI want to believe this, but my personal experience shows the opposite. I live in Berlin, and there's a severe housing shortage, even though Berlin is very big geographically, and 5 story buildings are the norm, many even as mixed-use. Why is this? Because there's a strong inflow from all over the world and not enough building. Meanwhile prices are going up without regard to incomes, and it is incredibly hard to get even a viewing, let alone be offered an apartment. On top of that, most of the stock is old and not modernized at all. Even for private owners, it is better to not build and let scarcity drive the price of their investments higher, than to take the risk of building and potentially see rents or prices fall.