The Housing Problem in Great Cities

A tale of two cities: the tenants’ strikes of 1907-1908 in Buenos Aires and New York: Exploring the global historical roots of tenants’ organization

“…Assessing the case of New York, Ronald Lawson talked about 'a speculative housing market in which buildings changed hands frequently, spurring increases in the rents that working tenants already found high because the market value of a property was directly related to its rent roll ' (1984, p. 237). A study published in 1900 estimated an 8-10% rate of profit for landlords (Gould, 1900). The phenomenon was admitted even by the authors of Buenos Aires' municipal census (1889), who recognized that 'the existence of so many conventillos, even in the most central parts of the city, exist due to the great income they produce', which was disproportionate 'in relation to the low value of these constructions.…”

Architecture as Model and Standard: Modern Liberalism and Tenement House Reform in New York City at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

“…In the words of Dr. Elgin Gould, a member of the organizing committee, the exhibition illustrated the "close relations between bad housing, bad health, bad morals, and bad citizenship." 11 Describing the tenement house district as a dangerous, even pathological environment, Gould wrote:…”

“…The weaker-willed, the careless, and the unreflecting are dominated by environment … Populous masses herded together, as they are over large areas of the tenement regions of New York City, with difficulty resist the influence by which they are surrounded. 12 In this sense, tenement house reform was necessary for social control. Properly configured, working class housing would help an industrial labor force made up largely of immigrants to accept, appreciate and embody American political values.…”

Making a home out of a temporary dwelling: a literature review and building transformation case studies

“…Brief history of affordable housing A common theme in the literature since 1893 is that housing for disadvantaged groups tends to be below standards or unavailable, and tends to be in need of improvements (Marshall 1893;Aronovici 1914;Wood 1934;Cooper Marcus, Sarkissian et al 1986;Jacobs, Kemeny, and Manzi 2003;Ball 2016). Due to a low quality living environment, health effects have changed for residents in the last century from tuberculosis, diphtheria, typhoid, and scarlet fever in the early twentieth century (Gould 1900) to respiratory infections, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health problems in the early twenty-first. (Bluyssen 2009).…”

“…(Bluyssen 2009). Before governments became responsible for providing affordable housing, it was done by nonprofit organisations with charity-raised funds, as well as by employers who were concerned about the living conditions of their employees (Gould 1900;Wood 1934). Aronovici (1914) proposed that the affordable housing problem lied in economic aspects and that limiting the rent leads to less investment and thus to lower quality of dwellings.…”