in: Urban Austerity: Impacts of the Global Financial Crisis on Cities in Europe, Verlag Theater der Zeit 2016
1. Introduction
In Germany, since 1999, more than three million rental housing units have been traded in the context of
large‐scale transactions. Sales to “financial investors” played a dominant role among these transactions. In
this article, I propose elements for a narrative that may help to understand the reasons for these
transactions.
This side event at the Habitat 3 meeting in Barcelona informs about an ecouraging step towards social regulation of housing: the Catalan Law 24/2015. Let’s discuss implications for struggles in other countries!
Side Event at the Habitat III Thematic Meeting on Public Spaces
Monday, April 4, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. , Historic Building of the University of Barcelona
While communities, social organizations, municipalities and governments are still struggling with the consequences of the 2008 crash, the influence of transnational financial markets, big corporate landlords and private developers on our livelihoods is still increasing. People and cities are struggling with unaffordable rents and property prices, with condo-conversions and evictions, with speculation and gentrification, with disinvestments, privatizations and destructions of urban heritage. The group who wrote the open letter “Make social regulation of real estate markets an issue at Habitat III !” will present concrete experiences, cases and demands.
Speakers:
Knut Unger, Ruhr Tenant Forum / Habitat Net, Germany
Santi Mas de Xaxàs Faus, Spokesman for the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), Spain
Benoit Filippi, Association des Comités de Défense des Locataires (ACDL), Paris
and others…
Organizer: Habitat Net Germany & International Working Group for the Promotion of Market Regulation and Market Alternatives at Habitat II
Monday, April 4, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Seminary Main Room, Unversity of Barcelona, Historic Building of the University of Barcelona
Everybody knows about the 2007–08 crashes resulting from housing bubbles and their context of globalized financial markets. But in the preparation of the UN conference HABITAT III you hardly hear a word about it. International, national and local organizations are demanding a serious inclusion of those issues into the conference and a global reflectiom on the regulation and exclusion from markets.
The “London Radical Housing Network” supported by international activists who try to build a “European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing an the City” have called for transnational action and meetings at the occasion of the real estate fair “MIPIM UK” in October (17th – 2oth). Here is their call in it’s 29th August version.