Technology: Saving Costs, Maintaining Quality - Strategies for Housing
The topic affordable building is in the news, because in Germany housing costs have gotten too high. In metropolitan areas the general population can't afford to own its dwelling any more - often not even a centrally located rental apartment. And in major cities the question has arisen how large the influence of construction costs on rents and purchase prices still is. Given a mean purchase price per m2 in Munich of €7000, "top prices" of €10 000, and, in greater Munich (near the suburban train lines) prices that have already surpassed €5000, the costs to erect housing are now only the smaller part of the overall purchase price. The situation is entirely different in rural areas: with purchase prices just above €3000/m2 the architect must justify construction costs exceeding €2000/m2. But this is no secret, either, considering that, on account of the present renaissance of urban living, there is much less building activity there. Thus, we can't avoid a discussion of construction in metropolitan zones: that is where housing is scarce and expensive. The low supply is obviously the cause of the increased housing costs, so we must simply build more apartments. At the same time, efforts must be made to increase people's interest in rural areas. Urban and regional planning measures could be taken. For example, infrastructure could be upgraded, and participative processes could be instituted. There is untapped potential in such processes.
