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Stadt, Raum und Gesellschaft

Danielle Gluns

From Plans
to Policies
Local Housing Governance
for the Growing Cities Vienna
and Washington, D.C.
Stadt, Raum und Gesellschaft

Reihe herausgegeben von

Ingrid Breckner, Hamburg, Deutschland
Andreas Farwick, Bochum, Deutschland
Susanne Frank, Dortmund, Deutschland
Simon Güntner, Wien, Österreich
Carsten Keller, Kassel, Deutschland
Marcus Menzl, Lübeck, Deutschland
Barbara Schönig, Weimar, Deutschland
Jens Wurtzbacher, Berlin, Deutschland
1991 gegründet, erscheint die Schriftenreihe „Stadt, Raum und Gesellschaft“
seit 2003 bei Springer VS. In dieser Reihe werden Texte publiziert, die Grund-
konzepte und aktuelle Probleme der Stadt- und Raumentwicklung aus sozialwis-
senschaftlicher Perspektive analysieren. Dies beinhaltet zeitdiagnostische wie
historisch orientierte Darstellungen von Stadtentwicklungsprozessen in ihrem
gesellschaftlichen Kontext. Eingegangene Manuskripte werden in einem Peer-­
Review-Verfahren begutachtet.

Reihe herausgegeben von

Prof. Dr. Ingrid Breckner Prof. Dr. Andreas Farwick
HCU Hamburg Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Prof. Dr. Susanne Frank Prof. Dr. Simon Güntner
Technische Universität Dortmund Technische Universität Wien
Prof. Dr. Carsten Keller Prof. Dr. Marcus Menzl
Universität Kassel Technische Hochschule Lübeck
Prof. Dr. Barbara Schönig Prof. Dr. Jens Wurtzbacher
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Katholische Hochschule für
Sozialwesen Berlin

Weitere Bände in der Reihe http://www.springer.com/series/12416

Danielle Gluns

From Plans to Policies

Local Housing Governance
for the Growing Cities Vienna
and W­ ashington, D.C.
Danielle Gluns
Institute of Social Sciences
University of Hildesheim
Hildesheim, Germany

Dissertation WWU Münster, 2018

D6

Stadt, Raum und Gesellschaft

ISBN 978-3-658-25753-8 ISBN 978-3-658-25754-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-25754-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019934948

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Acknowledgements

When embarking on the path towards a doctoral thesis, you expect yourself to
develop a clear and interesting research question, pursue your research step by
step and finish it within a timeframe that you can assess in advance. There may
even be persons who succeed in doing so, but my path included turnarounds and
barriers; and was ultimately longer than I had imagined. Reaching the end of this
path despite these obstacles required guidance and support by a number of per-
sons who I would like to thank herewith:
First of all, my interview partners in Vienna and Washington, D.C., took a
lot of time – often more than I had initially asked for – to provide me with insights
into their experience regarding policy making and implementation. I would never
have been able to paint such a thorough picture of the processes of housing gov-
ernance in the two cities without you. I sincerely hope that my research results
can be of help and support your efforts in making your cities grow and thrive.
Secondly, my supervisors, Annette Zimmer and Barbara Schönig, have
helped me to develop my ideas, have advised me not to stray too far from my
path – even if I must admit that I sometimes refused to listen and tended to over-
load my research question – and who at the same time let me work independently
and make my own experiences. I have learned a lot along this way and much of
it is attributable to you.
Thirdly, I would never have finished the research without support from my
family, friends and colleagues at the University of Münster. You have accompa-
nied me on my own personal path departures and have at the same time helped
me to stay on track and keep going. I am very grateful that you accompanied the
ups and downs of my dissertation process. Even if many of you will never read
this book, your backing carried me forward, ultimately leading to this publica-
tion.
Thus, to everyone who accompanied me all or part of the way that led to the
finalization of the book you now hold in your hands – thank you.
Contents

List of figures .................................................................................................. xiii

List of tables .................................................................................................... xiii
List of abbreviations ......................................................................................... xv
Abstract .......................................................................................................... xvii
1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 1
1.1 The puzzle: Urban housing governance for growing cities .................. 4
1.2 The research objective: Understanding conditions for stability and
change................................................................................................... 8
1.3 The roadmap: Outline of the study ..................................................... 13
2 The theoretical framework: Actors, institutions and governance ....... 19
2.1 Ideal-typical categories of actors ........................................................ 19
2.2 Historical institutionalism: Path dependence and change................... 24
2.3 Different modes of coordination and governance............................... 30
2.4 Multilevel governance: The local level as part of a broader setting ... 37
2.5 Summary ............................................................................................ 43
3 Urban development and housing at the local level ............................. 45
3.1 Guidelines for urban housing governance and policies ...................... 47
3.1.1 The guiding function of urban development plans..................... 47
3.1.2 Who stands to gain? Social justice in the city ............................ 49
3.1.3 Relationships between urban development and local
housing systems ......................................................................... 52
3.1.4 Summary .................................................................................... 55
3.2 Housing policy in international comparison ....................................... 56
3.2.1 Instruments of public housing policy ......................................... 56
viii Contents

3.2.2 Comparative housing studies ..................................................... 61

3.2.3 Target groups of housing policy ................................................ 65
3.2.4 Summary .................................................................................... 74
3.3 Connecting the dots: Housing governance in growing cities............. 75
3.3.1 Housing governance in a multilevel setting ............................... 76
3.3.2 Digging deeper: Specifying the research questions ................... 80
4 How to proceed: Research methods and case selection ...................... 83
4.1 The comparative case study design .................................................... 83
4.2 Case selection ..................................................................................... 85
4.3 Methods of data collection: triangulation for validity ........................ 88
4.3.1 Policy documents ....................................................................... 89
4.3.2 Archival material ....................................................................... 90
4.3.3 Interviews................................................................................... 90
4.3.4 Observations .............................................................................. 96
4.4 Bringing order to the evidence chaos: Methods of data evaluation .... 97
4.4.1 Qualitative content analysis ....................................................... 97
4.4.2 Compiling and analyzing evidence from different sources ........ 98
5 Facts, figures and contexts: Introduction to the cases ........................ 99
5.1 Washington, D.C.: From federal city to capital city ......................... 101
5.1.1 General information and geography......................................... 101
5.1.2 Historical development of Washington, D.C. .......................... 102
5.1.3 Local government structures in a multilevel setting ................ 106
5.1.4 The welfare regime .................................................................. 109
5.1.5 Federal and local housing policy traditions.............................. 112
5.1.6 Disadvantages in the local housing system .............................. 119
5.2 Vienna: From peripheral city to “gateway between East and West” 124
5.2.1 General information and geography......................................... 124
Contents ix

5.2.2 Historical development of Vienna ........................................... 125

5.2.3 Local government structures in a multilevel setting ................ 129
5.2.4 The welfare regime .................................................................. 133
5.2.5 Federal and local housing policy traditions.............................. 136
5.2.6 Disadvantages in the local housing system .............................. 142
5.3 Similarities and differences in the two cities .................................... 147
6 From plans to policies in the District................................................ 153
6.1 Key actors in the housing governance of Washington, D.C. ............ 153
6.2 Urban development as “inclusive growth” ....................................... 159
6.2.1 The general model of urban development ................................ 159
6.2.2 Normative guidelines for the field of housing ......................... 162
6.3 “Inclusive housing policy” for the growing District? ....................... 169
6.3.1 Object subsidies and provision of housing ............................... 173
6.3.2 Subject subsidies ...................................................................... 181
6.3.3 Special needs and homelessness support ................................. 183
6.3.4 Area-based interventions and revitalization ............................. 185
6.3.5 Regulation ................................................................................ 189
6.3.6 Information .............................................................................. 193
6.3.7 The translation of “inclusive growth” into housing policies .... 194
6.4 Housing governance in the District .................................................. 199
6.4.1 Policy making in Washington, D.C.......................................... 199
6.4.2 Policy implementation in the District ...................................... 204
7 From plans to policies in Vienna ...................................................... 215
7.1 Key actors in Vienna’s housing governance .................................... 215
7.2 Urban development policy for a “high quality of life” ..................... 222
7.2.1 The general model of urban development ................................ 222
7.2.2 Normative guidelines for the field of housing ......................... 227
x Contents

7.3 A high quality of housing and living in Vienna? .............................. 232

7.3.1 Object subsidies ....................................................................... 235
7.3.2 Subject subsidies ...................................................................... 243
7.3.3 Special needs and homelessness support ................................. 245
7.3.4 Area-based policies .................................................................. 247
7.3.5 Regulation ................................................................................ 249
7.3.6 Information .............................................................................. 252
7.3.7 The translation of a “high quality of life” into local housing
policy ....................................................................................... 253
7.4 Housing governance in Vienna......................................................... 257
7.4.1 Policy making in Vienna .......................................................... 258
7.4.2 Policy implementation ............................................................. 262
8 Discussion ........................................................................................ 269
8.1 Path dependence and institutional change in the two cities .............. 269
8.1.1 Mechanisms of path dependence in comparison ...................... 270
8.1.2 Institutional change in the two cities ........................................ 276
8.2 Governance structures and continuity .............................................. 280
8.2.1 What is the problem? Reasons for governance failure ............. 280
8.2.2 Who could change the rules? Structures of meta-governance.. 286
8.3 Who gains, who loses? ..................................................................... 291
8.3.1 Input legitimation ..................................................................... 292
8.3.2 Throughput legitimation .......................................................... 295
8.3.3 Output legitimation .................................................................. 297
8.4 Summary .......................................................................................... 301
9 Concluding comments ...................................................................... 303
9.1 Main findings ................................................................................... 303
9.2 Recommendations for policy makers and practitioners .................... 310
Contents xi

9.3 Reflection and recommendations for future research ....................... 313

9.4 Outlook ............................................................................................. 316
References ...................................................................................................... 319
Annex: Code system ....................................................................................... 349
List of figures

Figure 1: Actors in urban housing systems. ................................................. 24

Figure 2: Instruments of public housing policy at the local level................. 60
Figure 3: Influences on local housing systems. ............................................ 64
Figure 4: The role of housing in multidimensional inequality. .................... 68
Figure 5: Population development of Washington, D.C., 1810-2015. ....... 103
Figure 6: Population development of Vienna, 1800-2015.......................... 126
Figure 7: Government of the District of Columbia, simplified
organizational chart for housing and urban development policy.155
Figure 8: Government of Vienna, simplified organizational chart for
housing and urban development policy ...................................... 217

List of tables

Table 1: List of interviews. ......................................................................... 93

Table 2: Housing systems in Washington, D.C., and Vienna. .................. 151
Table 3: Goals and instruments for housing in Washington, D.C. ............ 168
Table 4: The main housing policy instruments in Washington, D.C. ....... 170
Table 5: Translation of goals into policies in Washington, D.C. .............. 196
Table 6: Goals and instruments for housing in Vienna ............................. 231
Table 7: The main housing policy instruments in Vienna......................... 232
Table 8: Translation of goals into policies in Vienna. .............................. 255
List of abbreviations

AMI Area Median Income

ANC Advisory Neighborhood Commission
BID Business Improvement District
BMS Bedarfsgeprüfte Mindestsicherung
CBO Community Based Organization
CDBG Community Development Block Grants
CDFI Community Development Finance Institutions
CNHED Coalition for Non-profit Housing and Economic Development
DCHA District of Columbia Housing Authority
DCHFA District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency
DDOT District Department of Transportation
DHCD Department for Housing and Community Development (District
of Columbia)
DHS Department of Human Services (District of Columbia)
DMPED (Office of the) Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Devel-
opment
EAHP Employer Assisted Housing Program
ERAP Emergency Rental Assistance Program
EUR Euro (currency)
FMR Fair Market Rent
FPO For-profit organization
FPÖ Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
FSW Fonds Soziales Wien (Vienna Social Fund)
GB15 Gebietsbetreuung Stadterneuerung im 15. Bezirk (local area ma-
nagement, 15th District, Vienna)
GDP Gross domestic product
GSE Government-sponsored enterprises
HOME HOME Investment Partnership Program
HOPE VI Home Ownership for People Everywhere
HPAP Home Purchase Assistance Program
HPTF Housing Production Trust Fund
HUD Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development
ICH Interagency Council on Homelessness
IZ Inclusionary Zoning
LIHTC Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
xvi List of abbreviations

LRSP Local Rent Supplement Program

MA 18 Magistratsabteilung 18, Stadtentwicklung und Stadtplanung (De-
partment of Urban Development and Planning, Vienna)
MA 21 Magistratsabteilung 21, Stadtteilplanung und Flächennutzung
(Department for District Planning and Land Use, Vienna)
MA 37 Magistratsabteilung 37, Baupolizei (Department for Building In-
spections)
MA 50 Magistratsabteilung 50, Wohnbauförderung und Schlichtungs-
stelle für wohnrechtliche Angelegenheiten (Department for Hou-
sing Promotion and Arbitration Board for Legal Housing Matters,
Vienna)
MRG Mietrechtsgesetz
NCPC National Capital Planning Commission
NIF Neighborhood Investment Fund
NPM New Public Management
NPO Nonprofit organization
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
ÖVP Österreichische Volkspartei
OP Office of Planning (District of Columbia)
PUD Planned Unit Development
RFP Request for Proposals
SAFI Site Acquisition Funding Initiative
SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
SPÖ Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
SSI Supplemental Security Income
STEP 05 Stadtentwicklung Wien 2005
STEP 2025 Stadtentwicklungsplan 2025 (Urban Development Plan Vienna)
TANF Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
TOPA Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act
TSO Third sector organization
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
USD U.S. Dollars (currency)
WA Wien ANDAS, Wahlallianz (voting alliance Vienna)
WAW Wirtschaftsagentur Wien (Vienna Business Agency)
WDCEP Washington D.C. Economic Partnership
WFW wohnfonds_wien (Housing Fund Vienna)
WMATA Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
WSW Wohnservice Wien (Housing Service Vienna)
WW Wiener Wohnen
Abstract

After a period of suburbanization, many cities have started to grow again. The
rising number of inhabitants requires new dwellings and an expansion of the ur-
ban infrastructure, putting pressure on existing physical structures. In addition,
population growth can exacerbate socio-spatial inequalities. Local governments
try to shape these processes in many ways. Usually, an urban development plan
is adopted, laying out where and how the city shall grow. A premise of this book
is that the model of the future city depicted in such a plan needs to be translated
into concrete policies in order to produce tangible outcomes. In particular, the
field of housing is crucial for accommodating population growth and has a sig-
nificant influence on the built environment.
Local governments cannot translate the goals of the urban development plan
into housing policies single-handedly. Various actors influence urban develop-
ment and residential property markets. The modes of interaction between these
actors constitute the respective urban governance structures. The book assumes
that these structures are rather stable. Thus, the question arises if policy change
is possible within existing governance structures and if and how these structures
change in response to external changes.
The book analyzes the translation of urban development plans into housing
policies at the example of two growing cities with widely differing governance
and policy traditions: Washington, D.C., is a city pursuing mainly a market-lib-
eral approach, whereas Vienna has historically strongly intervened in the local
housing system. The book identifies the extent and mechanisms of path depend-
ence of these systems and the respective opportunities or barriers for policy
change.
It shows that path dependence is an important feature in urban housing gov-
ernance, with actors interpreting new problems and plans in the light of their
prior experience and drawing on existing relationships to address them. Distinct
mechanisms lead to stability in the two different systems, with deeply embedded
norms (Washington, D.C.) or very close relationships (Vienna) as the main bar-
riers to policy change. Even so, instances of change are also visible that may
accrue to path-departing change in the long term.
1 Introduction

The last decades have witnessed a trend of (re-)urbanization (cf. Brake 2011)
with many cities around the world attracting new residents, and with companies
locating preferably in urban regions. The share of the total world population
which is living in cities has continuously increased and is projected to grow by a
further two thirds until 2050 (United Nations, Department of Economic and So-
cial Affairs, Population Division 2015). Urban population growth is appreciated
as a positive sign for the attractiveness of the city and as a source of additional
local revenue. Cities are associated with enhanced productivity due to a concen-
tration of industries and services that attract skilled personnel, trigger innovation
and allow for specialization and division of labour. Moreover, economic growth
is commonly understood as a desirable feature and a basic goal of capitalist econ-
omies (Baumol et al. 2007: 15–34). As a consequence, growing cities are usually
perceived as the winners in interurban competition (Newman and Thornley 2011:
51f; Savitch and Kantor 2004: 352f).
At the same time, though, growth can intensify social and spatial inequali-
ties. Inequalities are rising not only on a global scale – between different states
or world regions – but also between residents within states and cities (cf. UN-
HABITAT 2008). Urban growth usually brings about reinvestment in formerly
underinvested areas of a city and increases local land values. This can on the one
hand help to regenerate dilapidated areas while on the other leading to rising
prices, which result in the displacement of vulnerable residents (“gentrification”)
(Lees et al. 2008; Porter 2009). Rapid population growth can thus intensify social
polarization and spatial segregation, and give rise to an escalating vulnerability
to housing disadvantages e.g. for low-income households (Alisch 2004; Voith
and Wachter 2009; Logan and Molotch 1987: 86–96).
Cities do not have to endure those downsides passively. Instead, they have
many instruments at their disposal to shape population growth and the resulting

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2019

D. Gluns, From Plans to Policies, Stadt, Raum und Gesellschaft,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-25754-5_1
2 Introduction

social and spatial changes. Policies for urban development can pursue a number
of different objectives:
[…] throughout the OECD, urban development policies seek to address a range of
issues – from managing urban expansion and congestion to fostering competitive-
ness, innovation, social inclusion and environmental sustainability.1

The range of objectives is mirrored by a range of instruments available for shap-

ing urban development. One of the fields that aim to guide urban processes and
outcomes is urban planning. It strives to incorporate considerations for different
fields of development and provide information for a set of interdependent deci-
sions (Healey 2009). Local governments usually promulgate an urban develop-
ment plan that contains the aspired vision or model for the city’s future develop-
ment. However, for the plan to take effect, this model or normative guideline
needs to be translated into policies that influence the behavior of actors and pro-
duce tangible outcomes.
Interventions affecting urban development can be devised in policy fields
such as social, education, transportation or employment policy. An important
field for accommodating population growth is urban housing policy. Housing
policy can be defined as “[…] intervention in housing production, distribution or
consumption that affects the location, character and availability of homes, or the
rights associated with housing occupancy.” (Clapham et al. 1990: X) Housing is
considered a basic necessity and a premise for individual fulfilment in most
OECD countries (Volkert et al. 2003; Kemeny 2001: 54f). Apparently, the goal
of providing decent housing to all citizens has not been fulfilled by unrestrained
markets despite the neoclassical assumptions of automatically arising equilibria
between supply and demand (Barr 1998; Glaeser and Gyourko 2008). Therefore,
“[…] all Western governments have taken some responsibility for ensuring that
all citizens, including the poor, have access to decent housing.” (Heidenheimer
et al. 1990: 97) Together with the structures and trends of the local housing mar-
ket, public housing policy determines who can live where and how.
The onset of population growth after a period of decline or stagnation chal-
lenges existing housing policies by changing the problems to which public poli-
cies respond. Moreover, it changes projections for the city’s future development
and can thus be assumed to lead to a new model of urban development contained
in a new plan. However, public policies usually evolve in incremental steps (cf.

1
http://www.oecd.org/gov/regional-policy/urbandevelopment.htm (last accessed 04 Dec. 2018).
Introduction 3

Lindblom 1979), i.e. they can be assumed to follow a more or less steady trajec-
tory. This raises the question how cities manage to deal with external changes
and how they translate a new urban development model for the growing city into
policies that ultimately shape physical urban structures.
Cities2 are not coherent collective actors capable of uniform actions. They
are constituted by a variety of public and private actors, which are characterized
by a significant degree of heterogeneity or diverging interests (Prell 2016). Pat-
terns of urban development arise from the (inter)actions of these actors. Scholars
of “urban politics” and “urban governance” have emphasized that the role of ur-
ban governments in these settings has changed (Lowndes 2001: 1955f). Most
researchers agree that public actors exercise their influence more indirectly and
increasingly draw on private actors in policy making and implementation to pur-
sue collective goals and manage resource interdependence (Pierre and Peters
2012; Benz et al. 2007). However, earlier claims positing a full change “from
government to governance” have been refuted, since local governments have al-
ways interacted with non-governmental actors and continue to be responsible or
accountable for outcomes to a significant degree. Even so, the ideal-typical role
of the (local) state has changed and various modes of coordination beyond clas-
sical hierarchies exist (cf. Salamon 2002). These modes of coordination are sub-
sumed under the umbrella term ‘governance’ here.
The study at hand aims at finding out if policy change is possible within
existing governance structures or if and how these structures are transformed to
enable the successful translation of the aspired model of urban development into
policies and ultimately, substantial urban outcomes.
The need for knowledge on the effectiveness of local governance structures
in devising policies for accommodating urban growth is augmented in the light
of ever-increasing urbanization and rising inequalities in many societies around
the globe (cf. UN-HABITAT 2008). At the same time, public resources are de-
creasing while social expenditures escalate, and “fiscal crises” dominate public
discourses (OECD 2014). The need for austerity is often felt harshly at the local
level, which has to cope with changing societies and economic structures, rising
social problems and a lack of own resources. Apparently, urban problems are

2
The term ‘city’ is employed in a broad sense here. If only the local political and administrative
actors are referred to that are equipped with certain competences for action regarding a geo-
graphically delineated area and its inhabitants, the term ‘City’ will be capitalized for a clear
distinction.
4 Introduction

intensifying while the capacity of public actors to find solutions single-handedly

decreases. These trends enhance the need for collaboration with non-public ac-
tors and finding new solutions.

1.1 The puzzle: Urban housing governance for growing cities

Governance is not a clearly defined concept and has been used in different and
ambiguous ways (Rhodes 1996). One of the reasons for this ambiguity is based
on the different dimensions of the term (local) governance. They comprise the
use of the term as an analytical tool (i.e. a new research perspective), a descrip-
tion of a particular trend (i.e. new ways of ‘governing’) and a norm (‘good gov-
ernance’) (Selle 2014: 42–46; Holtkamp 2007: 366). The study at hand will em-
ploy ‘governance’ as an analytical guideline or “alternative lens” (Pierre and Pe-
ters 2012: 83) for empirically analyzing the particular mix of different modes of
coordination in local housing systems. These systems comprise the institutions
of the housing market as well as public housing policy (Stephens et al. 2010;
O'Sullivan 2011). The relatively stable characteristic relationships between ac-
tors within a social system can be referred to as “structures” (Dossi 2017: 34;
Prell 2016: 27–30), i.e. “urban governance structures” denote the institutional-
ized relationships between actors within the city as a whole.
These structures are both the result and prerequisite of human action: They
arise from earlier actions and influence future ones by institutionalizing certain
modes of interaction (Lowndes 2001: 1961f). Thus, “[u]nderstanding govern-
ance is very much about understanding the roles of institutions operating in a
certain context.” (Dossi 2017: 15) Institutions are understood as “a set of rules,
formal or informal, that actors generally follow, whether for normative, cogni-
tive, or material reasons” (Hall and Soskice 2001: 9). This definition of institu-
tions includes policies insofar as they define rules for interaction and thereby
enhance the predictability of behavior for other actors (Streeck and Thelen
2005b: 9–12). In the field of housing, many policies are in fact institutions as
they are aiming to change relations between actors or their positions in the market
(Bengtsson and Ruonavaara 2010: 194). Institutions are relatively stable over
time and are reproduced for example by shaping the distribution of power among
actors. Even so, external changes or an accumulation of contradictions within
The puzzle: Urban housing governance for growing cities 5

institutions can trigger change. The direction of change can be affected by acci-
dent, evolution, or can be intentionally designed by actors (Lowndes 2001: 1058–
1961; Davies and Trounstine 2012: 59–61). In other words, the interactions and
relationships between actors at the local level – i.e. the urban governance struc-
tures – are influenced by the historical development of local institutions without
being fully static.
Early approaches of “governance” often posited that forms of collaborative
governance were more effective than hierarchies in solving collective action
problems. “This claim was no more than an article of faith, however […]” (How-
lett and Ramesh 2014: 318). Instead, all forms of governance can fail in address-
ing the problems they shall solve. Instances of “governance failure” can result
from e.g. a mismatch between problem structure and governance form, or from
a lack of resources that can be mobilized by the existing structures. This raises
the question how well existing local governance structures are able to deal with
changing circumstances such as population growth. Knowledge on the interac-
tion between actors and the impact of urban governance structures on policy
making will hopefully help to design more effective housing systems. In addi-
tion, improving coordination between actors can help to reduce friction losses
and thereby enhance the efficiency of urban governance.
This book focuses on the urban development of growing cities. Urban de-
velopment can be observed in different dimensions, including social, cultural,
economic and physical changes. It is sometimes assumed that these processes
take a similar shape all over the world, as they are influenced by macro-level
economic, social, political and cultural trends. For example, de-industrialization
and globalization have an impact on virtually all cities (Savitch and Kantor 2004:
1–19). However, local manifestations of urban development diverge strongly.
National and local cultures influence the development of cities and their built
environment (Hofmeister 2001). Actors at various levels of government interpret
global processes and external influences, with politics and policies shaping cities.
Moreover, the existing physical structures – i.e. its topography and built environ-
ment – affect current actions and possible future outcomes (Sellers 2005).
Urban growth makes demands on existing structures; places for new inhab-
itants and new uses must be integrated into the urban fabric. In the context of a
free market economy, the increased demand leads to price rises in the short term,
as long as the supply is fixed. In the medium term, neo-classical economic theory
would expect the supply of housing and other buildings (for instance for work,
6 Introduction

education, leisure, or religious purposes) to increase, which should satisfy de-

mand and lead to the restoration of the former price equilibrium. However, in
reality there are several shortcomings that hinder these theoretically assumed
processes. Firstly, the surface area of the city is usually limited. This creates
competition among the various uses of urban space. Depending on their relative
profitability, competition can for example lead to the transformation of residen-
tial into office space or vice versa, which can obstruct new equilibria (Lichten-
berger 2001). Secondly, physical structures change slowly, i.e. price rises can
persist for significant periods of time before supply is increased and prices level
out (cf. Newman and Thornley 2011: 40f; Blaas and Brezina 1994: 144f).
Thirdly, an expansion of the supply will only take place for those needs that can
be translated into demands that possess sufficient purchasing power. Conse-
quently, housing for persons with low incomes will hardly be created by the mar-
ket, as new construction is usually costly (Clapham et al. 1990: 112–142).
Consequently, urban development that is based exclusively on the profit-
making interests of private actors can create undesirable outcomes. Tightening
housing markets often leave the poor with little housing choice and they end up
in the cheapest dwellings which are often concentrated in certain neglected areas
of the city (Sassen 1978; Alisch 2004; Friedrichs 2014). In addition to the dis-
placement of vulnerable residents, unmanaged growth can lead to the dislocation
of unprofitable uses from the city or the emergence of mono-functional urban
areas. Therefore, most governments try to guide urban development in terms of
influencing the activities of private actors e.g. by setting financial incentives,
regulating behavior, or providing information. The policies and instruments they
have at their disposal typically include some authority to levy taxes, responsibil-
ities for local infrastructure, or provision of social services (cf. Balducci and Cal-
varesi 2005: 240–242). Governments pursue various objectives such as attracting
investment in general, guiding it into particular sectors or areas, or changing the
distribution of costs and benefits. Broadly, urban development policies can be
categorized into market- and social-centered approaches. Market-centered poli-
cies emphasize efficiency and individual benefits, whereas social-centered poli-
cies underline collective benefits that shall be achieved by an active role of local
governments (Savitch and Kantor 2004). Underlying the local approaches is an
explicit or implicit normative understanding of urban justice, i.e. an ideal of the
urban society that includes the aspired distribution of resources, uses and popu-
lation groups in space.
The puzzle: Urban housing governance for growing cities 7

This vision or guideline for the future development of the city is usually laid
out in a comprehensive urban development plan that seeks to shape urban out-
comes and spatial structures. These plans can thus be considered a declaration of
intent of city governments for the future development of the city. While the plans
often mention a number of actions to take for implementing this vision, they need
to be enacted by everyday decision-making of public and private actors in order
to take effect:
We also need a better understanding of how effective planning is translated into a
better quality of life. It is not accomplished by planners operating in a vacuum. By
themselves, urban planners cannot accomplish very much. (Garvin 1995: 2)

The concept of governance can help to analyze the roles of different actors and
their interactions in the translation of plans into policies. Potentially important
actors for shaping cities by their decisions comprise not only public actors, but
also businesses, nonprofit organizations, as well as individual residents. Differ-
ent modes of coordination are possible to solve the interdependence of these ac-
tors in urban space (Selle 2014).
The study will focus on housing governance as a key policy field for grow-
ing cities. The local housing system needs to provide dwellings for the additional
local residents to accommodate urban growth. Residential buildings make up
large parts of the built infrastructure and thus exert significant influence on the
physical structures of the city and the spatial configurations of urban growth.
Moreover, housing is closely linked to other policy fields such as social or eco-
nomic policy and to other dimensions of the local infrastructure. Residents need
technical (water, gas, electricity etc.), social (e.g. educational or health care ser-
vices), economic (e.g. businesses for shopping and employment) and transporta-
tion infrastructure (Wieser 2014). If such resources are unevenly distributed
across the city, their accessibility will diverge between residents of different ur-
ban areas (Fol and Gallez 2013). The spatial configuration of housing options
and resources thus has a strong influence on socio-spatial patterns in the city. All
of these aspects make the local housing system a decisive factor for the organi-
zation and characteristics of urban growth.
One of the central objectives of public housing policy is to improve the
housing situation of certain social groups, based on the respective assessment of
patterns of social inequality (Le Grand et al. 2008: 101–105; Balchin 1996b: 9;
Kemeny 2001). There is a multitude of concepts to describe and explain patterns
8 Introduction

of social inequality. The work at hand uses the notions of social inequality and
social disadvantage, with inequality describing differences among the resources
or social positions of groups in general, including privileged ones. Disadvantages
indicate those individuals whose life chances are relatively worse than those of
the average member of society. Groups affected by housing disadvantage can be
assessed in terms of e.g. the quantity, quality, cost or location of their dwelling.
These disadvantages can reinforce further dimensions of social inequality. For
example, if expenses for housing consume a large share of monthly incomes, this
constrains the available means for other necessities such as nutrition and clothing
(Lowe 2011: 18; Kemeny 1992: 9f).
Residential location can (re)produce socio-spatial inequalities if the mem-
bers of a particular social group cluster in certain resource-deprivated areas of
the city (cf. Reardon and Bischoff 2011; UN-HABITAT 2008; OECD 2011).
Thus, housing policies can be targeted at certain population groups and/or at cer-
tain urban areas. The term “governance” implies that local governments do not
act alone but interact with a broad range of other actors. They cannot fully control
urban outcomes. Instead, they are influenced by macro-social and economic
trends. Moreover, they are embedded in a multilevel political system that enables
and constrains local actions. Taken together, the interactions of various actors in
local housing governance translate patterns of economic development and invest-
ment into tangible housing outcomes and physical urban structures. Urban de-
velopment plans need to find their way into these processes in order to take ef-
fect. This process from urban planning to housing policy is at the heart of this
study.

1.2 The research objective: Understanding conditions for stability and

change

The purpose of the study is to gain knowledge about modes of coordination be-
tween actors at the local level and their ability to react to contextual change.
Public policies will be treated as the dependent variable that shall be explained
by the local governance structures and political processes within them. The re-
search endeavor will be exemplified by the field of housing policy. The objec-
tives of this study are:
The research objective: Understanding conditions for stability and change 9

Assess in which ways governance structures enable or constrain the translation

of models for urban development into housing policy.
a. Determine the models for urban development that are established for grow-
ing cities.
b. Examine to which extent they are translated into housing policies.
c. Identify the structures of urban housing governance and ascertain if they are
conducive or obstructive to the translation of plans into policies.
d. Assess if the structures persist or change in response to external changes
and/or to a failure to translate the models into housing policies.
The study shall thus find out if and how local housing governance allows for
policy change in response to urban growth. Policy change can either be achieved
within existing governance structures or be brought about by structural changes.
Apart from answering the questions if existing structures allow for policy
change and if/how these structures change in response to external changes, the
study shall also investigate who is involved in shaping processes of policy and
structural change. This question raises matters of power, legitimacy and account-
ability in governance, i.e. addresses fundamental aspects of local democracy. If
the power to shape physical urban space does not lie exclusively with elected
representatives and a hierarchically structured public administration, the tradi-
tional form of democratic legitimacy is diminished (cf. Stone 2012). Thus, addi-
tional mechanisms have to be drawn on to legitimize decisions. They include
input (e.g. by direct participation of concerned actors), output (i.e. by effectively
solving problems) and throughput (by transparent procedures) legitimation
(Haus et al. 2005). This study assesses the capacities of local governance struc-
tures in dealing effectively with urban growth while ensuring the legitimacy and
accountability of policy making processes. Policies themselves need to be imple-
mented before visible urban outcomes are achieved. However, policy outcomes
will not directly be analyzed here as the study focuses on policy making in an
urban housing governance structure.
The analysis is based on historical institutionalism and the path dependence
thesis. Drawing on this theoretical framework helps to develop a clearer concep-
tualization of the mechanisms ensuring stability and constraining or enabling
10 Introduction

change. In general, the path dependence thesis assumes that the stability of es-
tablished institutions is difficult to overcome due to internalized norms3, coer-
cion, or infrastructural constraints (Davies and Trounstine 2012: 59–61; Pierson
2000). Path dependence is relevant in the fields of housing and urban develop-
ment, because not only is the built environment rather durable, but institutions
and relationships between public and private actors have been established early
in history. They continue to shape public policies and institutions such as the
rights associated with certain tenure forms in each context (Lawson 2010; New-
man and Thornley 2011: 40f; Bengtsson 2015: 684).
Even so, stability does not rule out unintentional or deliberate modification
of institutions, including governance structures as institutionalized interactions.
Institutional change can be expected in particular under changing external cir-
cumstances (cf. Baumgartner and Jones 2009). The onset of a period of urban
growth after years of stagnation or decline represents such a change. The empir-
ical analysis of recently growing cities therefore aims at assessing the conditions
for stability or change of structures and policies when responding to external
change (cf. Sellers 2005: 436–439).
The success of housing policies in affecting the living situation of house-
holds depends crucially on the local level (Murie 2011: 266f). This study focuses
in particular on cities, which are home to increasing shares of the world’s popu-
lation. Different definitions of ‘cities’ prevail in the literature and in everyday
discourse (cf. Prell 2016). The study will follow a broad definition, comprising
local institutions and actors, but also the physical structures and relations that
make up a city. A number of scholars propose to talk about ‘city regions’ instead
of cities, because social or economic relations do not end at formal city bounda-
ries (Wolman 2012; Newman and Thornley 2011). However, the capacities of
local governments to regulate or incentivize actions are usually restricted to a
geographically defined space. This space will therefore mark the boundaries of a
‘city’ for this study, even if e.g. intergovernmental relations to actors in neigh-
boring areas may become relevant empirically.
The research perspective on politics – understood as processes of interaction
for making or influencing decisions – emphasizes the role of political games and
institutional rules for policy output (Bengtsson 2012: 207f). Knowledge on local

3
A norm is understood here as a “standard embodying a judgement about what should be the
case” (Reeve 2009), including the unwritten codes of conduct prevailing in a society.
The research objective: Understanding conditions for stability and change 11

(housing) politics is important because the local political level is closest to the
individual and at the same time affords possibilities for analyzing the mecha-
nisms of decision-making. Even so, comparative urban politics in the field of
housing as well as the relations between urban housing governance and democ-
racy are so far understudied (Sellers 2005; Bengtsson 2015). A case study ap-
proach is chosen here in order to analyze the causal relations between the cities’
governance structures and policy making. It has the advantage of enabling the
researcher to take contextual factors and interactions into account and to arrive
at deep explanations that elucidate the causal mechanisms at play (Gerring 2007).
Analyzing two different cases that represent widely differing traditions further
enhances the analytical leverage of the case study research (Peters 2013). Juxta-
posing the structures and mechanisms in two diverse cases helps to identify the
conditions for their applicability.
The study analyzes two cities that are confronted with the same incidence
of population growth. Both Vienna and Washington, D.C., are capital cities of
developed Western states that have started to grow around the year 2000 after
decades of population decline or stagnation. In response to the increasing demand
for housing, rents and purchase prices have increased in both cities, diminishing
the available housing stock for low-income households (Rivers 2015; Statistik
Austria 2016c). While the challenges are thus similar, the two cities feature dif-
ferent traditions of policies and governance structures: Washington, D.C., has
traditionally relied predominantly on market-liberal principles regarding urban
development and housing construction. This approach is shaped by the federal
policy framework that favors free markets over governmental intervention and
that strives to enable the accumulation of assets through property markets (Rich-
ter 1983). In contrast to this, Vienna has historically pursued a more direct at-
tempt at steering the housing market and influencing urban development. The
large-scale immigration of workers into the city during industrialization, in com-
bination with Austro-Marxism, has led to the institutionalization of “Red Vi-
enna”, a comprehensive local social policy approach. It included the construction
of municipal housing at a large scale to improve the housing situation of workers
and shape local society. The public housing sector, together with subsidized non-
profit housing, continues to accommodate large segments of the Viennese popu-
lation (Novy 2011).
It is assumed that those approaches will only change slowly. They are sta-
bilized by the respective governance structures that assign specific roles to public
12 Introduction

and private actors, leading to distinct relationships and political processes. By

focusing on a clearly delineated field – housing – and highlighting the mecha-
nisms ensuring stability or enabling change in different contexts, the study con-
tributes to the scientific debate on comparative governance. At the same time, it
advances research on public policy by assessing potential structural barriers for
policy making and implementation and the collective capacity for an effective
translation of plans into policies.
Indubitably, local policies do not operate in isolation. The influence of con-
straints and opportunities arising from other levels such as the state or global
economic development trends needs to be assessed. This influence is coined in
the term ‘multilevel governance’ that highlights the interactions between various
scales.4 Here, it will be used in a broad sense to capture the relationships that
exist vertically, i.e. between local, regional, national and supranational levels, as
well as horizontally, i.e. between cities. These relations are not constrained to
formal intergovernmental links but include more informal and dynamic connec-
tions (Dossi 2017; Kübler and Pagano 2012). Policy fields are characterized by
a particular balance between the various levels and provide certain scope for local
agency. The opportunities and constraints for local actions that arise from higher
levels of governance will be conceptualized as context here, whereas data col-
lection and analysis will concentrate on the city level (cf. Denters and Moss-
berger 2006).
In particular, the structures of the national political economy shape the resources
available to actors at the local level (Sellers 2005: 427f). Political economic
structures and trends, including those of the financial markets, affect the devel-
opment of local real estate markets (Lowe 2011: 33f). This influence has become
painfully clear in the economic and financial crises of 2008/2009 that have
demonstrated the close linkages between international financial capital flows and
local housing markets (Schwartz 2009: 1–22). Moreover, various policy fields
interact in their impact on urban social and spatial structures. A crucial influential
factor for urban housing policy consists of social policy. Instruments such as so-
cial insurances, means-tested financial benefits or the provision of social services
redistribute resources and thereby affect the affordability of housing for different
households (cf. Alcock and Powell 2011). The national level is responsible for

4
The multi-level governance framework has initially been developed to capture processes of
supra- and subnationalization in the European Union (cf. Hooghe and Marks 2001).
The roadmap: Outline of the study 13

these policies in most states. Even so, lower levels of public authority are in-
volved in their implementation and can influence the policies to a certain degree,
thus creating distinct local welfare systems (cf. Sellers and Lidström 2007).
While both the structures of the welfare state and of the national political econ-
omy exert influence on local housing systems, they will be conceptualized as
context here. The study does not explore the possibilities for a different organi-
zation of e.g. economic structures or welfare systems, but focuses on the govern-
ance structure and interactions of actors at the local level who use their scope of
action to design housing policies.

1.3 The roadmap: Outline of the study

Following this brief introduction into the topics of this book, the second chapter
outlines the theoretical framework and defines its key terms. It starts by depicting
different categories of actors and their respective ideal-typical action orientations
(2.1). It is based on the distinction between the public, private and third sector,
but also discusses hybrid models, applying this distinction to the fields of housing
and urban development. Following this, the relationship between actors and in-
stitutions are assessed. Actors are not only constrained or enabled by the institu-
tional framework, but can shape this to a significant degree. While it is generally
acknowledged that institutions matter for urban politics, it is less clear how, when
and why (Davies and Trounstine 2012: 64). Therefore, chapter (2.2) outlines the
different possible mechanisms that are expected to ensure the stability of institu-
tions and enable or constrain policy change, drawing on historical institutional-
ism and path dependence. In the following, the possible relationships between
actors within an institutional setting are explained. Four different modes of gov-
ernance are categorized, comprising hierarchies, markets, networks and corpo-
ratist governance (2.3). While the focus is on local actors and structures, these
are embedded in a multilevel setting. Higher levels of government as well as
macro-economic structures and trends provide urban actors with resources which
they can use to pursue their interests. Moreover, higher levels can shape the iden-
tities of local actors and establish some rules for their interaction (Ostrom et al.
2014; Savitch and Kantor 2004: 69–75). At the same time, urban actors can in-
fluence some processes at higher levels (Sellers 2005). The assumed linkages
between these levels are described to outline the scope of agency for local actors
14 Introduction

(2.4), before a short summary outlines the main features of the analytical frame-
work (2.5).
Following the establishment of the analytical framework, the field of appli-
cation – i.e. housing policy and governance – and its relationships to urban de-
velopment are further elaborated in the third chapter. Various scientific disci-
plines have contributed to an understanding of the issues under study here. They
include most prominently political science, public policy and public administra-
tion, sociology and geography, economics as well as the multidisciplinary field
of urban research (Musil 2005: 317). Compiling this information and processing
it with a focus on the research objectives outlined above will help to straddle
disciplinary boundaries. The chapter starts by discussing the potential guiding
functions of urban development plans. The visions or models of urban develop-
ment contained in them are usually based on an explicit or implicit understanding
of urban justice, i.e. some normative guideline on how costs and benefits should
be distributed. Following the discussion of the normative basis, the relationships
between urban development and housing policy are outlined (3.1).
The subsequent section focuses on housing policy and politics in more detail
(3.2). It explains the potential goals and available instruments of urban housing
policy, categorizing them to enable international comparisons. Such comparisons
have so far been conducted at the national levels and are subject to a number of
difficulties. However, when conducted carefully, an analysis of local housing
systems as embedded in a multilevel framework is possible. Housing policies are
targeted in different ways, e.g. focusing on particular groups or urban areas. Such
targeting is based on the policy makers’ understanding of who is disadvantaged
in the local housing system, i.e. reveals their understanding of socio-spatial ine-
quality. The chapter closes by drawing together the different research strands for
the empirical part of the study (3.3), conceptualizing the roles of different actors
in urban housing governance and their interactions in policy making. Moreover,
the mechanisms for institutional stability and change in the field of housing are
clarified. Finally, the research questions raised in this introduction are refined on
the basis of the literature review.
The theoretical part is followed by a delineation of the research methods
and data base, including an explanation of the comparative case study methodol-
ogy (4.1), the selection of cases (4.2), and the methods of data collection (4.3)
and evaluation (4.4). The empirical analysis proceeds with an in-depth analysis
of both cases and draws on the toolkit of the policy analysis methodology to
Discovering Diverse Content Through
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"Yes, yes," said the Lord Mayor, "no doubt of it; and in the meantime
I'll run to the Mansion House and get some assistance, gentlemen."
"Oh, no, my lord—oh, no," said the secretary to the chief magistrate
of the city. "We cannot think of sparing you."
"But—but—"
"Certainly not," said Sir Richard Blunt, who was keenly alive to the
tone of irony in which the secretary spoke. "Certainly not; and as I
fancy the sound which has excited our curiosity comes from about
the centre of the pews, you and I, my lord, will go and find out who
it is. Come, if you please, at once."
"I—I—" stammered the Lord Mayor, "I really—humph! If I felt quite
well, do you know, Sir Richard, I should not hesitate a moment."
"Pho! pho!" said Sir Richard, taking his arm, and leading him
unwillingly forward. "Remember that the eyes of those are upon you
whose opinions are to you of importance."
With a groan the unfortunate Lord Mayor, who from the first had
shrunk from the enterprise altogether, being fearful that it might
possibly involve dangerous consequences, allowed himself to be
dragged by Sir Richard Blunt in the direction of the pews.
"If you have a pistol," said the magistrate, "you had better keep it in
your hand ready for service."
"Lord bless you," said the Lord Mayor, in a nervous whisper, "I never
fired off a pistol in all my life."
"Is that possible?"
"I don't know about being possible, but it's true."
"Well, you do surprise me."
"So—so you see, Sir Richard," added his temporary lordship,
suddenly popping into the churchwarden's pew, which they had just
reached—"so I'll stay here and keep an eye upon you."
Sir Richard Blunt was not at all sorry to get rid of such a companion
as the Lord Mayor, so with a cough, he left him in the pew, and went
forward alone, determined to find out what it was that made the
extraordinary noise. As he went forward, towards the spot from
whence it had come, he heard it once again, and in such close
proximity to him, that albeit, unaccustomed to allow anything to
affect his nerves, he started back a pace. Shading, then, the little bit
of wax candle that he had in his hand, he looked steadily in the
direction of the low moaning sound. In an instant he found a
solution of the mystery. A couple of pigeons stood upon the hand rail
of one of the pews, and it was the peculiar sound made by these
birds, that, by the aid of echo in the silent empty church, had
seemed to be of a very different character from its ordinary one.
"And from such simple causes," said Sir Richard, "arise all the well-
authenticated stories of superstition which fancy and cowardice give
credence to."
He looked up, and saw that in the wish to ventilate the church, the
windows had been liberally opened, which had afforded the means
of ingress to the pigeons, who, no doubt, would have slumbered
soundly enough until morning, if not disturbed by the arrival of the
party at the church. As Sir Richard Blunt retraced his steps, he
passed the pew where the Lord Mayor was; and willing to punish
that functionary for his cowardice, he said, in a well-affected voice of
alarm—
"Gracious Heaven! what will become of us?"
With a groan, the Lord Mayor flopped down to the floor of the pew,
and there he lay, crouching under one of the seats in such an agony
of terror, that Sir Richard felt certain he and the others would be
able to transact all the business they came about, before he would
venture to move from that place of concealment. The magistrate
speedily informed the rest of the party what was the cause of the
alarm, and likewise hinted the position of the Lord Mayor, upon
which the secretary said—
"Let him be. Of course, as a matter of courtesy, I was obliged to
write to him upon the subject; but we are as well, and perhaps
better without him."
"I am of the same opinion," said Sir Richard.
They now went at once to the vestry, and two good lanterns were
then procured, and lit. The magistrate at once led the way to the
stone that had been raised by the workmen, in the floor of the
church, and which had never been effectually fastened down again.
In a corner, where no one was likely to look, Sir Richard placed his
hand for a crow-bar which he knew to be there, and, having found
it, he quickly raised the stone on one side. The other gentlemen lent
their assistance, and it was turned fairly over, having exposed the
steps that led down to the vaults of old St. Dunstan's church.
"Let us descend at once," said the secretary, who, to tell the truth, in
the whole affair, showed no lack of personal courage.
"Allow me to precede you, gentlemen," said Sir Richard Blunt; "and
you, Mr. Villimay, will, perhaps, bring up the rear."
"Yes, oh, yes," said the churchwarden, with some degree of
nervousness, but he was quite a hero compared to the Lord Mayor.
Sir Richard handed one of the lanterns, then, to Mr. Villimay, and
took the other himself. Without another moment's delay, then, he
began the descent. They could all, as they went, feel conscious that
there was certainly a most unearthly smell in the vaults—a smell
which, considering the number of years that had elapsed since any
interments had taken place in them, was perfectly unaccountable. As
they proceeded, this stench became more and more sickening, and
the secretary said, as he held a handkerchief to his mouth and nose
—
"The Bishop of London spoke to me of this, but I really thought he
was exaggerating."
"It would be difficult to do that," said Sir Richard. "It is as bad
almost as it can very well be, and the measures taken for the
purpose of ventilation, have not as yet had a very great effect upon
it."
"I should say not."
With tolerable speed the magistrate led the party on through a vast
number of vaults, and through several narrow and rather tortuous
passages, after which he came to an iron door. It was locked, but
placing the lantern for a few moments upon the floor, he soon
succeeded in opening it with a skeleton key. The moment he had
done so, the secretary exclaimed—
"Hey day! This is something different."
"In what respect, my lord?"
"Why, if my senses don't deceive me, the horrible charnel-house
smell, which we have been enduring for some time past, has given
way to one much more grateful."
"What is it like, my lord?"
"Well, I should say some delicious cooking was going on."
"You are right. There is cooking going on. We are not very far from
Mrs. Lovett's pie manufactory."
"Indeed!"
"Yes; and the smell, or rather I ought to say the odour of which the
air is full, comes from the bakehouse."
The secretary gave a perceptible shudder, and Mr. Villimay uttered a
groan. The gentleman who was with the secretary was about to say
something, but the magistrate, in a low voice, interrupted him,
saying—
"Pardon me, but now we are in close proximity to the place of our
destination, I would recommend the profoundest caution and
silence."
"Certainly—certainly. We will only be silent spectators."
"It is better, I think," added Sir Richard Blunt, "to allow me to carry
on the whole of the conversation that is to ensue; and at the same
time, any of you gentlemen can suggest to me a question to ask,
and I will at once put it to the man we come to speak to."
"That will do, Sir Richard, that will do."
The magistrate now hurried on as though those savoury steams that
scented the air from the bakehouse of Mrs. Lovett's pies were to him
more disagreeable than the horrible smell in the vaults that made
everybody shake again. In a few minutes he arrived at a room, for it
could not be called a vault. It had a floor of rough stone flags, which
seemed as though they had originally belonged to some of the
vaults, and had been pulled up and carried to this place to make a
rude flooring. There was nothing very remarkable about the walls of
this place, save at one part, and there there was evidently a door,
across which was placed a heavy iron bar.
"It is through there," said Sir Richard.
"But—but you do not intend to open it?"
"Certainly not. There is a small crevice through which there will be
no difficulty in maintaining a conversation with the imprisoned cook,
if I can only make him hear me from this spot."
 CHAPTER LXVII.
THE REVELATIONS IN THE VAULTS.

The object of Sir Richard Blunt was, of course, to make the cook
hear him, but no one else. With this aim he took a crown-piece from
his pocket and tapped with the edge of it upon the stone-work which
at that place protruded from the wall to the extent of nearly a foot.
The stone shelves upon the other side were let into the wall in that
fashion. The monotonous ringing sound of the coin against the stone
was likely enough to reverberate through the wall, and that the cook
was rather a light sleeper, or did not sleep at all, was soon
sufficiently manifest, for a voice, which the magistrate recognised as
his, cried from the other side—
"Who is there? If a friend, speak quickly, for God knows I have need
of such. If an enemy, your utmost malice cannot make my situation
worse than it is."
Sir Richard placed his mouth close to a crevice, and said—
"A friend, and the same who has spoken to you before."
"Ah! I know that voice. Do you bring me freedom?"
"Soon. But I have much to ask of you."
"Let me look at the daylight, and then ask what you will, I shall not
tire of answering."
"Nay, the principal thing I have to ask of you is yet a little more
patience."
"Patience! patience! It seems that I have been years in this place,
and yet you ask me to have more patience. Oh, blessed liberty, am I
not to hail you yet?"
"Can you forget that you have another object—namely, to bring to
the just punishment of the law those who have placed you and
others in this awful position?"
"Yes—yes. But—"
"But you would forego all that to be free, a few short hours before
you would be free with the accomplishment of all that justice and
society required?"
"No—no. God help me! I will have patience. What is it that you
demand of me now? Speak."
"Your name?"
"Alas!—alas!"
"Surely you cannot hesitate to tell one, who has run some risks to
befriend you, who you are?"
"If, by my telling that, I saw that those risks were made less, I
would not hesitate; but, as it is, London, and all that it contains now,
is so hateful to me, that I shall leave it the instant I can. Falsehood,
where I most expected truth, has sunk deeply, like a barbed arrow,
into my heart."
"Well, I certainly had hoped you would have placed in me that
amount of confidence."
"No. I dare not."
"Dare not?"
"Yes, that is the word. The knowledge of my name spread abroad—
that is to say, my real name, would inflict much misery for all, I can
just now say to the contrary, upon one whom I yet wish all the
happiness that God can give his creatures in this world. Let it be
thought that I and the world have parted company."
"You are a strange man."
"I am. But the story I have to tell of the doings in this den of infamy,
will come as well from a Mr. Smith as from any one else."
"I wish you now, in a few words, to relate to me what you know,
fully and freely."
"Anticipating that a statement would be wanted, I have, with no
small amount of trouble, manufactured for myself pens and ink, and
have written all that I have to say. How can I give you the
document?"
"There is a chink here in the wall, through which I am addressing
you. Can you pass it through?"
"I will try. I see the chink now for the first time since my long and
painful residence here. Your light upon the other side has made it
quite apparent to me. I think, by folding my paper close, I can pass
it through to you."
"Try it."
In about half a minute Sir Richard Blunt got hold of a piece of folded
paper, which was pushed partly through the chink. He pulled it quite
through, and handed it to the secretary, who, with a nod, at once
put it in his pocket.
"And now for how long," said the cook, "am I to pine for freedom
from this dreadful place? Recollect that each hour here has upon its
passing wings a load of anxieties and miseries, such as I only can
appreciate."
"I have brought a letter for you," said Sir Richard, "which will contain
all the intelligence you wish, and give you such instructions as shall
not only ensure your safety, but enable you to aid materially in
bringing your persecutors to justice. Place your hand to the crevice
and take it."
"I have it."
"Well, read it at your leisure. Have you any means of knowing the
time of day in your prison?"
"Oh yes. There is a clock in the bakehouse, by which I am forced to
regulate the different batches of pies."
"That will do. Have you had any more threats from Mrs. Lovett?"
"None. As long as I perform my loathsome duty here, I see no one
and hear of no one."
"Be of good cheer, your desolate condition will not last long. It is not
easy under present circumstances to enter at large into matters
which might induce you to declare who you really are, but when you
and I meet in the bright sunshine from which you have been
debarred for so long, you will think very differently from what you do
now upon many things."
"Well, sir, perhaps I shall."
"Good night to you. Take what rest and refreshment you can, my
good friend, and believe that there are better days in store for you."
"I will strive to think so.—Good night."
There was such a mournful cadence in the voice of the imprisoned
young man, as he said "Good night," that the secretary remarked in
a low voice to Sir Richard—
"Would it not be a mercy now to let him free, and take him away
with us?"
"I don't like his concealing his name, my lord."
"Well, it is not the thing exactly."
"His imprisonment now will be of very short duration indeed, and his
liberation is certain, unless by some glaring act of imprudence he
mars his own fortune. But now, gentlemen, I have a sight to show
you in these vaults that you have come to see, and yet, that I think
it would have been wise if you had left unseen."
"Indeed!"
"Yes. You will soon agree with me in opinion."
Sir Richard, bearing the lantern in his hand, led the way for a
considerable distance back again, until they were fairly under the
church, and then he said—
"A large vault belonging to a family named Weston, which is extinct I
fancy, for we can find no one to claim it, has been opened near this
spot."
"By whom?"
"That you will have no difficulty in guessing. It is that vault that I
wish to show you. There are others in the same condition, but one
will be enough to satiate your appetites for such sights. This way,
gentlemen, if you please."
As the light from the two lanterns fell upon the faces of Sir Richard
Blunt's companions, curiosity and excitement could be seen
paramount upon their features. They followed him as their guide
without a word, but they could not but see that he trod slowly, and
that now and then a shudder crossed his frame.
"Even you are affected," said the secretary, when the silence had
lasted some minutes.
"I were something more or less than human," replied Sir Richard
Blunt "if I could go unmoved into the presence of that sight, that I
feel it to be my duty to show to you."
"It must be horrible indeed."
"It is more horrible than all the horrors your imagination can
suggest. Let us go quicker."
Apparently with a desperate feeling of resolution, such as might
actuate a man who had some great danger to encounter, and who
after shrinking from it for a time, should cry "Well, the sooner it is
over the better," did the magistrate now quicken his steps, nor
paused he until he arrived at the door of the vault of which he had
spoken.
"Now, Mr. Villimay," he said. "Be so good as to hold up your lantern
as high as you can, at the same time not to get it above the
doorway, and I will do the same by mine. All that we want is a brief
but clear view."
"Yes, yes. Quite brief," said the secretary.
Sir Richard Blunt laid his hand upon the door of the vault, which was
unfastened, and flung it open.
"Behold!" he said, "one of the vaults of old St. Dunstan's."
For the space of about a minute and a half no one uttered a word,
so it behoves us to state what that vault contained, to strike such
horror into the hearts of bold educated men. Piled one upon each
other on the floor, and reaching half way up to the ceiling lay, a
decomposing mass of human remains. Heaped up one upon another,
heedlessly tossed into the disgusting heap any way, lay the gaunt
skeletons with pieces of flesh here and there only adhering to the
bones. A steam—a foetid steam rose up from the dead, and upon
the floor was a pool of corruption, creeping along as the declivities
warranted. Eyes, teeth, hands half denuded of flesh—glistening
vermin, shiny and sleek with the luxurious feeding they there got,
slipped glibly in and out of the heaped-up horror.
 Todd's Victims In The Vaults Of Old St. Dunstan's
Church.

"No more—no more!" cried the secretary.

"I sicken," said his friend, "I am faint."
Sir Richard Blunt let go the door, and it slammed shut with a hollow
sound.
"Thank God!" he said.
"For—for what?" gasped Mr. Villimay.
"That you and I, my friend, need not look upon this sight again. We
are all sufficient evidence upon our oaths that it is here to see."
"Yes—yes."
"Come away," said the secretary. "You told me something of what
was to see, Sir Richard Blunt, but my imagination did not picture it
to be what it is."
"I told you that likewise, my lord."
"You did—you did."
With hurried steps they now followed the magistrate; and it was
with a feeling of exquisite relief that they all found themselves, after
a few minutes, fairly in the body of the church, and some distance
from that frightful spectacle they had each thought it to be their
duty to look upon.
"Let us go to the vestry," said the secretary, "and take something. I
am sick at heart and stomach both."
"And I am everything, and hungry too," cried a voice, and the Lord
Mayor popped his head up from the churchwardens' pew.
No one could help laughing at this, although, to tell the truth, those
men, after what they had seen, were in no laughing mood, as the
reader may well imagine.
"Is that our friend, the King of the City?" said the secretary.
"It is," said Sir Richard.
"Well, I must say that he has set a good example of bravery in his
dominions."
"He has indeed."
"Gentlemen—gentlemen," added the Lord Mayor, as he rolled out of
the churchwardens' pew, "don't think of going into the vestry
without me, for it was I who gave a hint to have refreshments put
there, and I have been dying for some of them for this last half-hour,
I assure you."
 CHAPTER LXVIII.
RETURNS TO JOHANNA.

We return to Johanna Oakley.

"What is the meaning of all this?" said Sweeney Todd, as he sat in
his shop about the hour of twelve on the morning following that
upon which Johanna Oakley and her friend Arabella had concerted
so romantic a plan of operations regarding him. "What is the
meaning of all this? Am I going mad?"
Now Todd's question was no doubt a result of some peculiar
sensations that had come over him; but, propounded as it was to
silence and to vacancy, it of course got no answer. A cold
perspiration had suddenly broke out upon his brow, and, for the
space of about ten minutes, he was subject to one of those strange
foreshadowings of coming ills to him, which of late had begun to
make his waking hours anything but joyous, and his dreams hideous.
"What can it mean?" he said. "What can it mean?"
He wiped his face with a miserable looking handkerchief, and then,
with a deep sigh, he said—
"It is that fiend in the shape of a woman!"
No doubt he meant his dear friend, Mrs. Lovett. Alas! what a thorn
she was in the side of Sweeney Todd. How poor a thing, by way of
recompense for the dark and terrible suspicions he had of her, was
his heaped up wealth? Todd—yes, Sweeney Todd, who had waded
knee-deep—knee-deep do we say?—lip-deep in blood for gold, had
begun to find that there was something more precious still which he
had bartered for it—peace! That peace of mind—that sweet serenity
of soul, which, like the love of God, is beautiful, and yet passeth
understanding. Yes, Todd was beginning to find out that he had
bartered the jewel for the setting! What a common mistake. Does
not all the world do it? They do; but the difference between Todd
and common people merely was that he played the game with high
stakes.
"Yes," added Todd, after a pause, "curses on her, it is that fiend in
the shape of a woman, who
'Cows my better part of man,'

and she or I must fall. That is settled; yes—she or I. There was a

time when I used to say she and I could not live in the same
country; but now I feel that we cannot both live in the same world.
She must go—she must lapse into the sleep of death."
Todd rose, and stalked to and fro in his shop. He felt as if something
was going to happen: that undefinable fidgetty feeling which will
attack all persons at times, came over him, and yet it was not a
feeling of deep apprehension that was at his heart.
"Oh," he muttered, "it is the recollection of that dreadful woman—
that fiend, who, with a seeming prescience, knows when there is
poison in her glass, and baffles me. It is the dim and shadowy
thought of what I must do with her that shatters me. If poison will
not do the deed, steel or a bullet must. Ah!"
Some one was trying the handle of the shop door, and so timidly
was it tried, that Todd stood still to listen, without saying "Come in,"
or otherwise encouraging the visitor.
"Who is it?" he gasped.
Still the handle of the door-lock only shook. To be sure, it was a
difficult door to open to all who did not know it well. Todd had taken
care of that, for if there was anything more than another which such
a man as he might be fairly enough presumed to dislike, it would be
to be glided in upon by the sudden opening of an easy-going door.
"Come in," he now cried.
The person without was evidently anxious to obey the invitation, and
a more strenuous effort was made to unfasten the door. It yielded at
length. A young and pretty looking lad, apparently of about thirteen
or fourteen years of age, stood upon the threshold. He and Sweeney
Todd looked at each other in silence for a few moments. If a painter
or a sculptor could have caught them as they stood, and transferred
them to canvas or to marble, he might have called them an idea of
Guilt and Innocence. There was Todd, with evil passions and
wickedness written upon every feature of his face. There was the
boy, with the rosy gentleness and innocence of Heaven upon his
brow. God made both these creatures! It was Todd who broke the
silence. A gathering flush was upon the face of the boy, and he
could not speak.
"What do you want?" said Todd.
He rattled his chair as he spoke, as though he would have said, "It is
not to be shaved." The boy was too much engaged with his own
thoughts to pay much attention to Todd's pantomime. He evidently,
though, wished to say something, which he could not command
breath to give utterance to. Like the "Amen" of Macbeth, something
he would fain have uttered, seemed to stick in his throat.
"What is it?" again demanded Todd, eagerly.
This roused the boy. The boy, do we say. Ah, our readers have
already recognised in that boy the beautiful and enthusiastic
Johanna Oakley.
"There is a bill in your window—"
 Johanna Applies To Todd To Become His Errand
Boy.

"A what?"
Todd had forgotten the announcement regarding the youth he
wanted, with a taste for piety.
"A bill. You want a boy, sir."
"Oh," said Todd, as the object of the visit at once thus became clear
and apparent to him. "Oh, that's it."
"Yes, sir."
Todd held up his hand to his eyes, as though he were shading them
from sunlight, as he gazed upon Johanna, and then, in an abrupt
tone of voice, he said—
"You won't do."
"Thank you, sir."
She moved towards the door. Her hand touched the handle. It was
not fast. The door opened. Another moment, and she would have
been gone.
"Stop!" cried Todd.
She returned at once.
"You don't look like a lad in want of a situation. Your clothes are
good—your whole appearance is that of a young gentleman. What
do you mean by coming here to ask to be an errand boy in a
barber's shop? I don't understand it. You had different expectations."
"Yes, sir. But Mrs. Green—"
"Mrs. who?"
"Green, sir, my mother-in-law, don't use me well, and I would rather
go to sea, or seek my living in any way, than go back again to her;
and if I were to come into your service, all I would ask would be,
that you did not let her know where I was."
"Humph! Your mother-in-law, you say?"
"Yes, sir. I have been far happier since I ran away from her, than I
have been for a long time past."
"Ah, you ran away? Where lives she?"
"At Oxford. I came to London in the waggon, and at every step the
lazy horses took, I felt a degree of pleasure that I was placing a
greater distance between me and oppression."
"Your own name?"
"Charley Green. It was all very well as long as my father lived; but
when he was no more, my mother-in-law began her ill-usage of me.
I bore it as long as I could, and then I ran away. If you can take me,
sir, I hope you will."
"Go along with you. You won't suit me at all. I wonder at your
impudence in coming."
"No harm done, sir. I will try my fortune elsewhere."
Todd began sharpening a razor, as the boy went to the door again.
"Shall I take him?" he said to himself. "I do want some one for the
short time I shall be here. Humph! An orphan—strange in London.
No one to care for him. The very thing for me. No prying friends—
nowhere to run, the moment he is sent of an errand, with open
mouth, proclaiming this and that has happened in the shop. I will
have him."
He darted to the door.
"Hoi!—hoi!"
Johanna turned round, and came back in a minute. Todd had caught
at the bait at last. She got close to the door.
"Upon consideration," said Todd, "I will speak to you again. But just
run and see what the time is by St. Dunstan's Church."
"St.—St. who?" said Johanna, looking around her with a bewildered,
confused sort of air. "St. who?"
"St. Dunstan's, in Fleet Street."
"Fleet Street? If you will direct me, sir, I dare say I shall find it—oh,
yes. I am good at finding places."
"He is strange in London," muttered Todd. "I am satisfied of that. He
is strange. Come in—come in, and shut the door after you."
With a heart beating with violence, that was positively fearful,
Johanna followed Todd into the shop, carefully closing the door
behind her, as she had been ordered to do.
"Now," said Todd, "nothing in the world but my consideration for
your orphan and desolate condition, could possibly induce me to
think of taking you in; but the fact is, being an orphan myself—(here
Todd made a hideous grimace)—I say, being an orphan myself, with
little to distress me amid the oceans and quicksands of this wicked
world, some very strong sense of religion—(another hideous
grimace)—I naturally feel for you."
"Thank you, sir."
"Are you decidedly pious?"
"I hope so, sir."
"Humph! Well, we will say more upon that all-important subject
another time, and if I consent to be your master, a—a—a—"
"Charley Green, sir."
"Ay, Charley Green. If I consent to take you for a week upon trial,
you must wholly attribute it to my feelings."
"Certainly, sir."
"Have you any idea yourself as to terms?"
"None in the least, sir."
"Very good. Then you will not be disappointed. I shall give you
sixpence a week, and your board wages of threepence a day,
besides perquisites. The threepence I advise you to spend in three
penny pies, at Mrs. Lovett's, in Bell Yard. They are the most
nutritious and appetizing things you can buy; and in the Temple you
will find an excellent pump, so that the half hour you will be allowed
for dinner will be admirably consumed in your walk to the pie shop,
and from thence to the pump, and then home here again."
"Yes, sir."
"You will sleep under the counter, here, of a night, and the
perquisites I mention will consist of the use of the pewter wash-
hand basin, the soap, and the end of a towel."
"Yes, sir."
"You will hear and see much in this place. Perhaps now and then you
will be surprised at something; but—but, master Charley, if you go
and gossip about me or my affairs, or what you see, or what you
hear, or what you think you would like to see or hear, I'll cut your
throat!"
"Charley" started.
"Oh! sir," he said, "you may rely upon me. I will be quite discreet. I
am a fortunate lad to get so soon into the employment of such an
exemplary master."
"Ha!"
Todd, for a space of two minutes made the most hideous and
extraordinary grimaces.
"Fortunate lad," he said. "Exemplary master! How true. Ha!"—Poor
Johanna shuddered at that dreadful charnel-house sort of laugh.
"My God," she thought, "was that the last sound that rung in the
ears of my poor Mark, ere he bade adieu to this world for ever?"
Then she could not but utter a sort of groan.
"What's that?" said Todd.
"What, sir?"
"I—I thought some one groaned, or—or sighed. Was it you? No.—
Well, it was nothing. See if that water on the fire is hot. Do you hear
me? Well—well don't be alarmed. Is it hot?"
"I think."
"Think! Put your hand in it."
"Quite hot, sir."
"Well, then, master Charley—Ah! A customer! Come in, sir; come in,
if you please, sir. A remarkably fine day, sir. Cloudy, though. Pray be
seated, sir. A-hem! Now, Charley, bustle—bustle. Shaved, sir, I
presume? D—n the door!"
Todd was making exertions to shut the door after the entrance of a
stout-built man, in an ample white coat and a broad brimmed farmer
looking hat; but he could not get it close, and then the stout-built
man cried out—
"Why don't you come in, Bob—leave off your tricks. Why you is old
enough to know better."
"It's only me," said another stout-built man, in another white coat,
as he came in with a broad grin upon his face. "It's only me, Mr.
Barber—ha! ha! ha!"
Todd looked quite bland, as he said—
"Well, it was a good joke. I could not for the moment think what it
was kept the door from shutting, and I always close it, because
there's a mad dog in the neighbourhood, you see, gentlemen."
Crack went something to the floor.
"It's this mug, sir," said Charley. "I dropped it."
"Well—well, my dear, don't mind that. Accidents, you know, will
happen; bless you."
Todd, as he said this, caught up a small piece of Charley's hair in his
finger and thumb, and gave it a terrific pinch. Poor Johanna with
difficulty controlled her tears.
"Now, sir, be seated if you please. From the country, I suppose, sir?"
"Yes. A clean shave, if you please. We comed up from Barkshire,
both on us, with beasts."
"You and your brother, sir?"
"My cousin, t'other'un is; ain't you Bill?"
"Yes, to be sure."
"Now, Charley, the soap dish. Look alive—look alive, my little man,
will you?"
"Yes, sir."
"You must excuse him being rather slow, gentlemen, but he's not
used to the business yet, poor boy—no father, no mother, no friend
in all the world but me, sir."
"Really!"
"Yes, poor lad, but thank God I have a heart—Leave the whiskers as
they are, sir?—Yes, and I can feel for the distresses of a fellow
creature. Many's the—Your brother—I beg pardon, cousin, will be
shaved likewise, sir?—pound I have given away in the name of the
Lord. Charley, will you look alive with that soap dish. A pretty boy,
sir; is he not?"
"Very. His complexion is like—like a pearl."
Johanna dropped the soap dish, and clasped her hands over her
eyes. That word "pearl" had for the moment got the better of her.
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