History UsefulNotes / CouncilEstate

* UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}} is somewhat famous for its extensive ''Kommunalbauten'' (Communal Buildings), most of which were constructed as early as the [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]], are typically organised as cooperatives and have gained the reputation of being (sometimes literal) bastions of UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} in a city that is ''already'' predisposed to voting Social Democrat. The ''Karl-Marx-Hof'' in Heiligenstadt district is the largest building of its kind in the ''world'' and was under siege at least once in its extensive history. The average ''Kommunalbau'' has the expected reputation of being a WretchedHive in both Vienna and Austria at large, though many Austrians may be surprised that, ''internationally'', Vienna is actually [[https://www.politico.eu/article/vienna-social-housing-architecture-austria-stigma/ held up as a gold standard]] for good social housing practices, particularly in terms of maintenance, poverty prevention, infrastructure and intuitive urban planning.

* UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}} is somewhat famous for its extensive ''Kommunalbauten'' (Communal Buildings), most of which were constructed as early as the [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]] have gained the reputation of being (sometimes literal) bastions of UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} in a city that is ''already'' predisposed to voting Social Democrat. The ''Karl-Marx-Hof'' in Heiligenstadt district is the largest building of its kind in the ''world'' and was under siege at least once in its extensive history. The average ''Kommunalbau'' has the expected reputation of being a WretchedHive in both Vienna and Austria at large, though many Austrians may be surprised that, ''internationally'', Vienna is actually [[https://www.politico.eu/article/vienna-social-housing-architecture-austria-stigma/ held up as a gold standard]] for ''good'' social housing practices, particularly in terms of maintenance, poverty prevention, infrastructure and intuitive urban planning.

* UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}} is somewhat famous for its extensive ''Kommunalbauten'' (Communal Buildings), most of which were constructed as early as the [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]] have gained the reputation of being (sometimes literal) bastions of UsefulNotes/Socialism in a city that is ''already'' predisposed to voting Social Democrat. The ''Karl-Marx-Hof'' in Heiligenstadt district is the largest building of its kind in the ''world'' and was under siege at least once in its extensive history. The average ''Kommunalbau'' has the expected reputation of being a WretchedHive in both Vienna and Austria at large, though many Austrians may be surprised that, ''internationally'', Vienna is actually [[https://www.politico.eu/article/vienna-social-housing-architecture-austria-stigma/ held up as a gold standard]] for ''good'' social housing practices, particularly in terms of maintenance, poverty prevention, infrastructure and intuitive urban planning.

Council estates today are perceived as places of [[WretchedHive high crime and deprivation]], populated by asylum seekers[[note]] (there is no evidence that they jump the queue at all, although their homeless status can buy them a few more points on most housing associations' scales of need)[[/note]], the long-term unemployed, and [[TeenPregnancy teenage mothers]] who got pregnant just to get a council flat[[note]]However, this stigma is at least somewhat less prevalent in Scotland, possibly due to the broadly further-left political culture there[[/note]]. This has not been helped by the 2008 kidnapping of Shannon Matthews, where her mother pretended her own daughter had been kidnapped (her lover was in fact holding her) in order to [[MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome gain money from the press]].

In the '50s and '60s, large tower blocks were the fashion, resulting in tall, ugly buildings dotting up across much of the UK's cities and providing inspiration for even bigger things in fiction. Between inexperience with new pre-cast concrete construction techniques used to erect them and the urgent housing shortage[[note]]the Victorian and Edwardian terraced housing they were intended to replace was already badly overcrowded and dilapidated by the 1930s; German bombing raids just made it worse[[/note]], a lot of housing was thrown up in great haste and without much attention paid to good workmanship, souring their reputation with the public. Bad planning (lack of amenities within walking distance, elderly or disabled residents who couldn't cope with lots of stairs housed on the top floors of high buildings etc), the breakup of established communities and irregular maintenance didn't help either. And many such blocks would prove dangerous, as the horrific Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 showed.

In the '80s, the Thatcher government created the "Right to Buy" scheme, which allowed people to purchase their homes at a discounted price after a certain period. This resulted in much of the former stock disappearing into the private market and "council house" becoming a pejorative term.

Council estates today are perceived as places of [[WretchedHive high crime and deprivation]], populated by asylum seekers[[note]] (there is no evidence that they jump the queue at all, although their homeless status can buy them a few more points on most housing associations' scales of need)[[/note]], the long-term unemployed, and [[TeenPregnancy teenage mothers]] who got pregnant just to get a council flat[[note]]However, this stigma is at least somewhat less prevalent in Scotland, possibly due to the broadly further-left political culture there[[/note]]. This has not been helped by the recent Shannon Matthews case, where a mother pretended her own daughter had been kidnapped (her lover was in fact holding her) in order to [[MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome gain publicity and money from the press]].

* Like ''Some Girls'', the main setting in ''Chewing Gum'' is a council estate and is depicted as much cleaner and less crime ridden than typical depictions.

* The closest American equivalent, in terms of both intent and image, would be public housing, funded by a mix of federal (mostly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_(housing) Section 8]]), state, and local programs. Like the British council estates, American public housing is often stereotyped with butt-ugly, crumbling, concrete tower blocks in the slums, designed to concentrate the poor into specially-built neighborhoods far away from "respectable" society and visible from a distance so that everyone else knows to avoid them. The former [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabrini%E2%80%93Green_Homes Cabrini-Green Homes]] in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruitt%E2%80%93Igoe Pruitt-Igoe]] complex in UsefulNotes/StLouis (both since demolished) are among the more notorious examples.

*

** The aforementioned Grenfell Tower is in the very posh and wealthy [[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]].

[[AC:Theater]]
* In ''Theatre/BloodBrothers'', the Johnstones are relocated from the terraced house of inner city Liverpool to a new council estate in the suburbs.

** Rose Tyler lived on a council estate before she started travelling in the TARDIS. Her mother, Jackie, stayed there, as did her father, Pete before his death in the 1980s, and Rose and the Doctor visited from time to time.

* The larger background conflict that influences the lives of the characters in ''TheCasualVacancy'' concerns the Fields, a council estate that has fallen into a regulatory limbo between the small town of Pagford and the larger city of Yarvil, neither of which wants the responsibility. Several characters live in the Fields, and life in such a setting is explored in depth.

* ''Fish Tank'' (filmed on the Mardyke)

* Filmmaker Andrea Arnold grew up in a council estate and has set several films there, including ''Fish Tank'' (filmed on the Mardyke), ''Red Road'' (the story of a female CCTV operator in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Road_(flats) Red Road]] housing complex in Glasgow, at one time the tallest tower blocks in Europe), and the short film ''Film/{{Wasp|2003}}''.

* The Creator/JacquelineWilson book ''The Diamond Girls'' is about a family moving from a cushty council flat to a not so nice council house because the mother [[WesternZodiac "read it in the stars".]] [[TooDumbToLive And didn't check what the houses were actually like.]]

** Leaving, of course, the less nice ones still in the councils' possession. This, combined with the problems when only a percentage of the estate; building or tenement is under the councils' ownership when it comes to renovations; repairs etc. is why the policy is not universally well thought of.

* ''Red Road'' is the story of a female CCTV operator in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Road_(flats) Red Road]] housing complex in Glasgow, the tallest tower blocks in Europe when they were built.
** The director of this and the mentioned above ''Fish Tank'', Andrea Arnold, grew up in a council estate. This can also qualify as a case of WriteWhatYouKnow.

* In ''UnLunDun'', this is where Deeba lives.

** this is a ‘’ShoutOut’’ to the Chatsworth Estate, one of the largest and wealthiest aristocratic landed estates in England