Abstract
Housing affordability has become one of the most urgent governance challenges in advanced urban democracies. Rising housing costs, financialized real estate markets, demographic pressures, and uneven planning capacity have intensified social inequality and weakened public trust in urban institutions. This article examines how institutional design shapes housing affordability and social equity through a comparative analysis of Vienna and Vancouver. Vienna represents a social-democratic housing governance model characterized by extensive municipal housing, regulated rental markets, long-term public investment, and planning integration. Vancouver represents a market-oriented urban governance model shaped by land scarcity, global capital flows, fragmented metropolitan authority, and reliance on private development incentives. Drawing on comparative urban governance, political economy, public policy, and institutional theory, the article demonstrates that housing outcomes are produced not merely by market conditions but by governance arrangements regulating land, finance, tenancy, planning, and public provision. The findings show that Vienna’s institutionalized social housing system supports affordability, tenure security, and social mix, while Vancouver’s market-dependent model produces persistent affordability pressures despite policy innovation. The article contributes to politics and governance scholarship by advancing a comparative framework linking housing governance, institutional capacity, urban citizenship, and democratic legitimacy.