‘Deliberative development’: Australia’s Baugruppen movement and the challenge of greater social inclusion

Abstract

German Baugruppen are the most well-known of the collaborative, self-organized alternatives to speculatively produced multi-residential housing, delivering housing at a significant price discount to market. However, Baugruppen have been criticized for excluding less affluent households with financing and social capital barriers identified by Hamiduddin and Gallent as reinforcing socio-economic stratification. Collaborative, self-organized housing is, however, under-researched and there has been scant attention to financing. Collaborative, self-organized multi-residential housing in Australia is known as ‘deliberative’ development to differentiate it from ‘speculative’ development. We draw on case studies of deliberative development in Australia to reveal how projects are financed and how financing impacts on social equity considerations. Proponents of contemporary deliberative development in Australia are deeply concerned about housing affordability and declining rates of home ownership. This has focused attention on development financing as a key to systemic change paving the way for inclusion of less wealthy households.

Keywords:

• Baugruppen
• deliberative development
• multi-residential housing
• home ownership
• development finance
• housing affordability
• Australia

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to acknowledge the contribution of the referees whose advice was much appreciated and lead to many improvements.

Disclosure statement

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and the author’s ethical obligation as a researcher, the author reports that she holds the position of an unpaid advisor to Nightingale Housing Ltd., a company that may be affected by the research reported in this article. She is also an equity investor in a Nightingale Housing Ltd licensed development. Furthermore, the author co-manages the independent Nightingale Housing Research Collaboration. She has disclosed these interests fully to Taylor & Francis, and she has in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from this involvement.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dr. Andrea Sharam is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT University where she specializes in housing research with a focus on social and economic disadvantage. Her work over the past decade has raised the profile of single older women as an emerging cohort at risk of homelessness later in life. Her highly innovative conceptual and theoretical work applies the economic theory of matching markets to residential development, housing markets and housing assistance and is a significant scholarly, public policy and practical contribution. She is a Strategy Board member of the Melbourne Housing Expo.