Social Housing in Vienna: Reflections from Los Angeles Housing Leaders

In May 2023, a delegation of housing leaders from the City and County of Los Angeles traveled to Vienna, Austria, as part of the Global Policy Leadership Academy’s Vienna Social Housing Field Study. The field study aimed to provide an immersive education about the history and current practices of social housing in Vienna, considered to be one of the most successful examples of affordable urban housing in the world.

First of two Los Angeles Delegations attending the GPLA Vienna Field Study in 2023. GPLA’s second Vienna Field Study Cohort.

The participants in the field study were leading housing policymakers and practitioners from the Los Angeles region who aimed to learn about social housing and identify solutions that could be replicated or adapted to California. This report is an effort to “capture the moment” of being in Vienna and witnessing its social housing program alongside fellow housing Los Angeles leaders. It intends to highlight ideas that resonated most with field study participants, voice their critiques, and memorialize the lessons learned so that Los Angeles housing policymakers can advance informed solutions to the housing crisis at home.

Los Angeles is grappling with an unprecedented housing emergency. Every night, over 75,000 individuals in Los Angeles find themselves without a home. The latest assessment of housing needs indicates that Los Angeles County must introduce more than 470,000 additional housing units for households earning less than 120% of the County Median Income.

Nearly half of this required housing is for households with annual earnings ranging from $10,000 to $60,000. Addressing this crisis demands a substantial increase in public investment in affordable housing. However, mere financial resources are insufficient to tackle the housing crisis. Alongside new subsidies, there must be fundamental changes in how Los Angeles approaches the creation and maintenance of affordable housing.