2. Public Opinion
To grow beyond individual initiatives, cooperatives need political support, which is dependent on public opinion. In Zurich, pro-cooperative policies won important political victories in the 1920s, 1940s and late 1990s, resulting in a significant increase in cooperative housing.
In Zurich, surveys have been instrumental in shaping public opinion and public policy on housing since the late nineteenth century. Housing policy has been continually debated, contested and revised by citizens and elected officials in part through referenda. Swiss voters are called to the polls every three months; ballot measures on land-use policy and housing appear every few years.
Public opinion, public policy and architecture are mediated through design guidelines and housing regulations issued by public-sector entities. Zurich’s cooperatives, because they are nonprofit, must adhere to both federal design guidelines and cantonal housing regulations. As such, they, too, are a product of societal consensus.
However, public opinion can be swayed by the tangibility of architecture. A striking example is the highly experimental cluster floor plan designed by Duplex Architekten für Hunziker Areal in Zurich, which was included in federal design guidelines (the Wohnungs-Bewertungs-System) only a few years after the project’s realization. Its inclusion signified an epochal shift: a move beyond the nuclear family as the normative household model.
A referendum (Volksabstimmung) asks voters to approve or reject a particular ballot measure; if approved, the measure becomes law. In Switzerland, a mandatory (obligatorisches) referendum is required for any constitutional change, while an optional (fakultatives) referendum can be initiated by citizens in opposition to any law passed by the Swiss legislature (so long as 50 000 signatures asking for the referendum are collected within 100 days of the law’s publication).
A referendum (Volksinitiative) can also result from a popular initiative on any matter of common concern. To force a vote at the national level, a petition requires 100 000 signatures.
A survey, study or report is an inquiry into the causes of social problems. It is generally written by experts commissioned by a public entity or philanthropic organization. Its normative power derives from the presumable objectivity of science and allows policy makers to argue for or against public-sector involvement in housing.
In 1896, a civic organization commissioned the first inquiry on the sanitary conditions of industrial workers’ housing. The study paved the way for the City of Zurich to define housing as a public-sector responsibility in its 1907 charter revision. An advertisement in the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich called for voters in the city to approve the revision in a mandatory referendum. The revised charter was the first to define housing as a matter of public concern and as worthy of public-sector support.
Even though it was a nonbelligerent, Switzerland experienced hunger, rampant inflation, a flu epidemic and a severe lack of housing in the aftermath of World War One. By official count, in 1919 only 20 apartments in Zurich were vacant out of a total of 47 000. These conditions contributed to a nationwide general strike. The emergency measures approved in response—federal subsidies for nonprofit housing in 1918 (loans and grants), the establishment of the Swiss Housing Federation in 1919 and the 1924 municipal ruling to lower cooperatives’ equity requirements from 10 percent to 6 percent—had lasting impacts at the municipal and national levels.
The 2015 Wohnungs-Bewertungs-System (Housing Evaluation System, WBS) chose the “cluster” typology designed by Duplex Architekten for Hunziker Areal in Zurich as exemplary of flexible living forms. The plan organizes five one- and two-room-apartments, each with an individual bath and kitchenette, around generous shared spaces.
The initiative asked voters whether all municipalities in Switzerland should be required to guarantee a certain percentage of nonprofit housing. Slogans for the initiative included, “Stop Speculators,” and slogans against included, “No to the Nationalization of the Housing Market.” The initiative was rejected by 57 percent of voters.
Research: Gina Rauschtenberger, Alexia Zeller
2. Uwezekano wa kupata Maoni ya Umma Ili kukua zaidi ya mipango ya mtu binafsi, vyama vya ushirika vinahitaji msaada wa kisiasa, ambao unategemea maoni ya umma. Katika Zurich, sera za ushirika zilipata ushindi muhimu wa kisiasa katika miaka ya 1920, 1940 na mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1990, na kusababisha ongezeko kubwa la makazi ya ushirika. Katika Zurich, uchunguzi umekuwa muhimu katika kuunda maoni ya umma na sera ya umma juu ya makazi tangu mwishoni mwa karne ya kumi na tisa. Sera ya makazi imekuwa daima kujadiliwa, kupingwa na kurekebishwa na wananchi na maafisa waliochaguliwa kwa sehemu kupitia kura za maoni. Uchaguzi wa Uswisi unafanyika kila baada ya miezi mitatu, na uchaguzi wa sera za matumizi ya ardhi na nyumba hufanyika kila baada ya miaka michache. Maoni ya umma, sera za umma na usanifu huingiliwa kupitia miongozo ya kubuni na kanuni za makazi zilizotolewa na vyombo vya sekta ya umma. Ushirikiano wa Zurich, kwa sababu wao ni nonprofit, lazima kufuata wote miongozo ya muundo wa shirikisho na kanuni za makazi ya cantonal. Kwa hiyo, wao pia ni bidhaa ya makubaliano ya kijamii. Hata hivyo, maoni ya umma yanaweza kuathiriwa na jinsi usanifu-ujenzi unavyoonekana. Mfano wa kuvutia ni mpango wa sakafu ya kundi la majaribio iliyoundwa na Duplex Architekten für Hunziker Areal huko Zurich, ambayo ilijumuishwa katika miongozo ya muundo wa shirikisho (Kifungu cha Upendeleo wa Nyumba) miaka michache tu baada ya utekelezaji wa mradi huo. Kuingizwa kwake kulimaanisha badiliko la wakati: hatua ya kupita familia ya nyuklia kama mfano wa kawaida wa kaya. Referendum (Volksabstimmung) huwaomba wapiga kura kukubali au kukataa hatua fulani ya kura; ikiwa imeidhinishwa, hatua hiyo inakuwa sheria. Katika nchi ya Uswisi, kura ya maoni ya lazima (obligatory) inahitajika kwa mabadiliko yoyote ya kikatiba, wakati kura ya maoni ya hiari (fakultativ) inaweza kuanzishwa na raia dhidi ya sheria yoyote iliyopitishwa na bunge la Uswisi (kwa muda mrefu kama saini 50,000 zinazotaka kura ya maoni zikusanywa ndani ya siku 100 za kuchapishwa kwa sheria). Kura ya maoni (Volksinitiative) pia inaweza kutokea kutokana na mpango wa watu juu ya suala lolote la maslahi ya kawaida. Ili kuanzisha kura ya kitaifa, ombi linahitaji saini 100,000. Uchunguzi, utafiti au ripoti ni uchunguzi wa sababu za matatizo ya kijamii. Kwa kawaida huandikwa na wataalamu waliopewa kazi na shirika la umma au shirika la kutoa misaada. Nguvu yake ya kanuni hutokana na ubinafsi wa sayansi na inaruhusu watunga sera kujadili kwa ajili au dhidi ya ushiriki wa sekta ya umma katika makazi. Mwaka 1896 shirika la umma liliagiza uchunguzi wa kwanza kuhusu hali ya usafi wa nyumba za wafanyakazi wa viwanda. Utafiti huo ulifungua njia kwa Jiji la Zurich kufafanua makazi kama jukumu la sekta ya umma katika marekebisho yake ya mkataba wa 1907. Tangazo katika gazeti la Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich liliwaomba wapiga kura katika jiji hilo wakubali marekebisho hayo katika kura ya maoni ya lazima. Mkataba uliorekebishwa ulikuwa wa kwanza kufafanua makazi kama suala la wasiwasi wa umma na kama yenye thamani ya msaada wa sekta ya umma. Ingawa haikuwa nchi ya vita, Uswisi ilipatwa na njaa, mfumuko wa bei, janga la mafua na ukosefu mkubwa wa nyumba baada ya Vita vya Kwanza vya Ulimwengu. Kulingana na takwimu za serikali, katika mwaka wa 1919 kulikuwa na vyumba 20 tu vya kuishi katika jiji la Zurich kati ya vyumba 47,000. Hali hizo zilichochea mgomo wa jumla wa kitaifa. Hatua za dharura zilizopitishwa katika majibu - ruzuku ya shirikisho kwa nyumba zisizo za faida mnamo 1918 (mkopo na ruzuku), kuanzishwa kwa Shirikisho la Nyumba la Uswisi mnamo 1919 na uamuzi wa manispaa ya 1924 ya kupunguza mahitaji ya usawa wa ushirika kutoka asilimia 10 hadi asilimia 6 - zilikuwa na athari za kudumu katika ngazi za manispaa na kitaifa. "WHSR (Housing Evaluation System) ilichagua ""cluster"" typology iliyoundwa na Duplex Architekten kwa Hunziker Area huko Zurich kama mfano wa aina za kuishi rahisi." Mpango huo unaandaa vyumba vitano vyenye chumba kimoja na vyumba viwili, kila kimoja kikiwa na bafu na jikoni, karibu na maeneo ya pamoja yenye ukarimu. Mpango huo uliwauliza wapiga kura ikiwa manispaa zote nchini Uswisi zinapaswa kuhitajika kuhakikisha asilimia fulani ya nyumba zisizo za faida. "Masharti ya maandamano hayo yalikuwa ""Simamisha Wafanyabiashara"" na ""Hapana kwa Uhalali wa Soko la Nyumba"" na asilimia 57 ya wapiga kura waliipinga." Utafiti: Gina Rauschtenberger, Alexia Zeller