What Can We Learn From Vienna For Tackling the 21st Century Housing Question?
Date:
17 October 2026
Time:
6:30PM
Location:
Oxford and online
Event status:
Open
Location:
Oxford and online
Dates:
17 October 2026
Level:
Postgraduate
Fees:
FREE
Event Overview
Join us in Oxford for a compelling free lecture from Dr Justin Kadi, Associate Professor in Planning and Housing, University of Cambridge.
Amidst deepening housing crises in many cities worldwide, there is a growing appetite to look at places that appear to manage housing systems more successfully.
Within these debates, Vienna features prominently. But what characterises the “Vienna model”? How does Vienna’s housing system differ from housing systems in other (Western) cities? How did it come into being? What challenges is Vienna currently facing? What role do structural transformations such as commodification and financialization play in Vienna, and how do they affect housing in the city?
This lecture explores these questions, weaving together insights from various research projects conducted over the last 10 years that attempt to understand the reconfiguration of housing systems in the 21st century from the vantage point of a highly regulated housing context.
Dr Justin Kadi is an Associate Professor in Planning and Housing at the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the transformation of cities and housing systems in the context of macro-social change. He has a particular interest in how processes like neo-liberalism, commodification and financialization feed into and reshape urban and housing-related inequalities. His work has been published in journals such as New Political Economy, Critical Social Policy, Environment and Planning A, Urban Geography, Urban Studies, Housing Studies, and European Planning Studies.
Taking place as part of Urban October, UN-Habitat’s annual month of activities and debate around urbanisation, the lecture invites reflection on housing as a central urban question, examining what Vienna’s experience reveals about affordability, regulation and the pressures reshaping cities worldwide.
This free lecture is hosted by Oxford University’s Sustainable Urban Development programme.
Please note that this lecture will not be recorded, so this will be your only opportunity to participate.
You can choose to attend this lecture either in person or online.
To reserve your place, please book using the green button above, which will take you to Eventbrite. You can choose your attendance option there.
For in-person attendance, the event will be held in the Lecture Theatre, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA.
