[aimanbenbaha]

IMO if there is any model to follow to solve the housing crisis it should be Japan/Singapore. Vienna is too unique of a case and its housing market still suffers from negative externalities.

Singapore is also hard to achieve but the HDB mandate made it that the government own monopoly on land so they're incentivized to provide maximum land utility to its population.

Japan has the best land use zoning in a way it makes it so easy to build and develop. They also have a very practical view on housing and do not see it as an appreciating asset critical to accumulating wealth.

[franciscop]

> Japan has the best land use zoning in a way it's makes it so easy to build and develop. They also have a very practical view on housing and do not see it as an appreciating asset critical to accumulating wealth.

I want to note that this is in big part due to earthquakes and nature in general. In Spain 100-year old houses (like in the article) are renovated and relatively easy to maintain. However in Japan, between the earthquakes, typhoons, and the weather in general, not only you need to be actively maintaining it (typhoons), but they become worse over time (earthquake damage accumulates).

Source: Spaniard who lives in Tokyo.

[aimanbenbaha]

Yeah that would be a factor but there's more to that. For example the Japanese are so crafty with land use they even allow an odd type of development called Zakkyo. Which are multi-storey buildings wherein each floor is owned and managed independently. The foot traffic isn't restricted to the ground floor to enjoy these "third places".

IMO geographical constraints should not be the all-in justification for a certain land-use/housing policy. I hear a lot chalk up the fact Barcelona stopped building since the 1980s because they're surrounded by mountains and the sea. Or recently with the LA fires people look at these wrong answers. There's no reason for things being like that other than NIMBYism and lack of long-term political will from local councils.