[Rezension zu Jacopo Tivaroni: La questione economica delle abitazioni nelle grandi città]

Hermann von Schullern zu Schrattenhofen’s 1900 review of Jacopo Tivaroni’s La questione economica delle abitazioni nelle grandi città presents urban housing as an urgent field of social inquiry:

Eines der aktuellsten Themen ist in dem Büchlein gedrängt behandelt.

English translation: One of the most topical subjects is treated in concentrated form in the little book.

The review traces Tivaroni’s progression from statistical evidence on the poorest urban residents to housing’s economic, hygienic, and moral effects, rising costs, proposed remedies, and municipal ownership of building land. Schullern values his candour about Italian conditions and impartial consideration of competing positions.

The policy argument centres on municipally built workers’ housing, with state financial support where necessary, and the transfer of metropolitan building land into municipal ownership. Crucially, these measures depend on coordination with wider social and fiscal reform: housing policy cannot be treated in isolation. Schullern closes by identifying the book’s value both as an introduction and as a stimulus for specialists:

Für eine erste Information auf der einen Seite, dann aber, weil es manchen fruchtbaren Gedanken auch für den Kenner des Problems bringt, ist das Büchlein recht empfehlenswert.

English translation: For a first orientation on the one hand, but then also because it brings many a fruitful idea even for one acquainted with the problem, the little book is quite to be recommended.