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Adding luxury housing helps with supply of affordable housing. Just a few citations I quickly googled: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00

Adding luxury housing helps with supply of affordable housing. Just a few citations I quickly googled: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094119021000656 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00941... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119022001048 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009411902... https://archive.is/2026.02.23-212725/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/housing-crisis-rich-poor-building/686086/ https://archive.is/2026.02.23-212725/https://www.theatlantic...

vrganj 5d ago
I'm sure it does, to some extent that is <100%. But the real limit in a city is land. If we want to use it efficiently, we should check what we want to optimize use of that resource for. IMO, in Berlin the most lacking thing is the supply in affordable housing, so it makes sense to optimize for that directly instead of a side effect of some other optimization. Why not build something like Alt-Erlaa? [0] [1] Cities can just build stuff. And if private developers are not as incentivized to invest, that makes it cheaper for the city to do so itself. As somebody from Vienna, it's crazy to me this is even up for debate. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterlaa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterlaa [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxuACFQBwxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxuACFQBwxs
- bluecalm 5d ago
  >> But the real limit in a city is land. I am not sure how it is in Berlin. I haven't visited in a while. I think it's too general an assessment though. In many cities the limit is not land but permits - both being permitted to build at all and then build high enough. >>Cities can just build stuff. And if private developers are not as incentivized to invest, that makes it cheaper for the city to do so itself. As somebody from Vienna, it's crazy to me this is even up for debate. I hear a lot of good things about housing in Vienna. Are those city build apartments readily available for anyone? The problem with public housing when I am from is that it turns the city population into lucky few who get access and the rest who not only have to subsidize it but then need to buy on private market themselves.

vrganj 5d ago

I'm sure it does, to some extent that is <100%. But the real limit in a city is land. If we want to use it efficiently, we should check what we want to optimize use of that resource for. IMO, in Berlin the most lacking thing is the supply in affordable housing, so it makes sense to optimize for that directly instead of a side effect of some other optimization. Why not build something like Alt-Erlaa? [0] [1] Cities can just build stuff. And if private developers are not as incentivized to invest, that makes it cheaper for the city to do so itself. As somebody from Vienna, it's crazy to me this is even up for debate. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterlaa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterlaa [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxuACFQBwxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxuACFQBwxs

bluecalm 5d ago
>> But the real limit in a city is land. I am not sure how it is in Berlin. I haven't visited in a while. I think it's too general an assessment though. In many cities the limit is not land but permits - both being permitted to build at all and then build high enough. >>Cities can just build stuff. And if private developers are not as incentivized to invest, that makes it cheaper for the city to do so itself. As somebody from Vienna, it's crazy to me this is even up for debate. I hear a lot of good things about housing in Vienna. Are those city build apartments readily available for anyone? The problem with public housing when I am from is that it turns the city population into lucky few who get access and the rest who not only have to subsidize it but then need to buy on private market themselves.