„HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT“
Robert Misik in conversation with Kathrin Gaal
„HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT“
How Red Vienna wants to secure affordable housing and combat land speculation.
She has one of the most important tasks in Vienna's city government and is regarded as a fearless „doer“, a quality that Kathrin Gaal can probably put to good use. After all, as City Councillor for Housing, she has to create living space for a rapidly growing city. The city has grown by around 200,000 inhabitants in the past ten years alone. Entire neighbourhoods have to be redeveloped. This always creates conflicts. Squaring the circle: all processes have to be taken into account, the buildings have to be at the cutting edge of technical innovation, insulation, heating etc. have to make their contribution to decarbonisation - and of course it has to be done quickly, and all this against the backdrop of rising property, land and construction costs. How can this be achieved? How do you turn this wheel?
Gaal's tasks include housing, housing construction and urban renewal as well as the women's agenda. With the onset of the pandemic, it quickly became clear that women felt burdened and, to a large extent, overburdened by working from home and homeschooling. Old role models have become entrenched again due to coronavirus. And violence against women has increased significantly. Gaal is convinced: „Women are among the losers of the crisis.“ She is harshly critical of the federal government's women's policy. But what is a contemporary social democratic feminist policy?
Kathrin Gaal, born in 1976, began her political career with the Favoriten SPÖ women's organisation. From 2001 to 2005, the lawyer was a district councillor in Favoriten, in 2005 she became a local councillor and has been chairwoman of the SPÖ Favoriten since 2011. As a close supporter of Michael Ludwig, she was „set“ to join his government after his election as mayor.
Kathrin Gaal talks to Robert Misik in Kreisky's living room about the two major tasks - that of housing city councillor and that of women's city councillor.
Kathrin Gaal, Executive City Councillor for Housing, Housing Construction, Urban Renewal and Women and Deputy Mayor of the City of Vienna
Moderation Robert Misik, Author and journalist