Wohnen, Arbeit und Klimawandel

The current housing problem cannot be reduced to a single cause – such as, for example, a growing pressure of demand. The housing problem, as the author of this article argues, is the result of a multiple crisis constellation, in which various problems occur simultaneously in a mutually reinforcing manner. Notably the commodification of rented housing, the increase of precarious jobs, the sharp cost jumps in the construction industry, a financialisation of the land market, the high dependency of the housing sector on fossil energy as well as the decreasing planning capacity of cities as a result of neoliberal transformations. Since state and cities in recent decades have been gradually withdrawing from their responsibility for decent and socially just housing provision, a new starting point and a re-politisation of the housing question is needed. Cities and a communal land policy should play a key role. But first, a political will to use the existing instruments and to integrate the residents in the decisions is needed. Faced with the great challenges of the social question and the question of climate change, not only is greater responsibility on the side of the state needed, but a fundamental redefinition of the role of the state is required.