Episode Details

In this episode of pplpod, we look beyond the stigma to explore the complex history of public and social housing around the world. We trace the origins of government-provided shelter from the Industrial Revolution’s response to urban squalor in the UK to the modern high-rises of Asia and the Americas.

Join us as we discuss:

• Defining the Terms: What distinguishes "public housing" from "social housing" and how these systems function as remedies for inequality.

• Global Success Stories: How Singapore achieved a 90% home-ownership rate through the Housing and Development Board, and why Vienna’s "Red Vienna" period remains a model for municipal architecture.

• The American Experience: A look at the evolution from the New Deal to the stigma of "projects," the impact of racial segregation, and the shift toward Section 8 vouchers and the HOPE VI demolition program.

• Architecture and Ideology: The legacy of Soviet Khrushchyovka and Plattenbau panels, the "million program" in Sweden, and the massive Minha Casa Minha Vida initiative in Brazil.

• Policy and Privatization: The effects of the "Right to Buy" in the UK, the "Housing First" policy that reduced homelessness in Finland by 35%, and South Africa’s constitutional mandate to provide adequate housing post-apartheid.