The French organizations Droit au Logement (DAL) and No Vox together with allies in France and the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and the City” os preparing protests in Cannes in order to confront participants of the leading international real estate fair/show “MIPIM” with the consequences of the finacialized property business.

January 12, 2014

MIPIM (world’s property market) will take place in Cannes, at Palais des festivals, as every year since it was created in 1992. This year, from March 11 to 14, about 20,000 people will gather : investors, developers, local authorities, banks, etc. and do face to face business during 4 days. And such a business !

Local authorities sell lands and major urban projects to developers,  developers sell to investors who borrow from banks, then rent or sell to building owners and occupiers. At same time, lawyers, taxes and urban planning specialists connect together to share good recipes to increase prices, set out rent regulations, make profits and hide them in tax havens to invest them again in others real estate tax free programs…

Everything is on sale at MIPIM : States and local communities assets and lands, popular districts in city centers and suburbs such as  Moscow, Beijing, Barcelone,Berlin, Paris, Londres and many others, lands on which shanty towns are settled, in Mumbay, Istanbul, Luanda,Rio de Janeiro, or Sao Paolo, lands of the evicted people in Bamako, Ouagadougou. This year,may be also Greek beaches and islands…
They’re selling to themselves our heritage, our districts, our places to live. We didn’t ask for nothing but they come and disturb us, drive us away with their urban plans, their office towers building, their business districts, golf playgrounds and other useless projects built up in Cannes in between two cocktail parties on luxurious yachts.

Nothing can stop speculation, speculators and their allies, those who help them  make a fortune, those who sell and buy public heritage to make own money and get richer (bribes and bribe again), to give housing to own electors (electoral corruption), to chase away poor populations by means of bulldozers, polices assaults and sometimes with the help ohthe army and unfair judiciary decisions (social clean-out). Corruption is a characteristic of this world market.

Because MIPIM is a market where lands and urban developments are on sale, often associated to cultural events (world fair,cultural year…) sport events (Olympic games  Football world games, …) when it is not real estate greed which creates these events.
Since 1990, 25 MIPIM have globalizes speculation, rationalized the increase in property prices,forcing people to pay always more for housing,or always move further.

25 MIPIM have contributed to cause crises which shaken economy and impoverish people. Crises in Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland or USA started with property bubbles. Nowadays these are threatening France and China. Others are formed up in Brazil or Russia. Never mind, developers and speculators play with crises and move to another playground when previous one has been devastated and come back again when it has been put back on its feet, by dint of much sacrifices from local communities and states. Property crisis in the USA has thrown 4 millions families out on the street. In Spain it leads to thousands of suicides … It is a politic of burned earth, predator’s philosophy, shark ‘s dance.

Cynicism also,is a strong characteristic of this global market.

In 2013, Turkey was the honored country. 8 months later  huge property corruption scandal shaken Turkish power.

Do you know which is going to be honored this year ? Brazil : “Mundial” is a land for speculator. But while favellas are massively destructed by police forces,  local community resistance is getting organized and intensified…

French Riviera knows about this tremendous speculative epidemic which, for 30 years, has compelled popular classes of people of Provence to give up sea coast, devitalizing sea side, leaving the place ready for tourism and rich people from all over the world. Salary men and season workers cannot find housing anymore and have to sleep in their cars, in camping, in slums or far away.

On March12, 2014, in many European countries, initiatives will be taken to denounce the sale to speculators of their own districts and of the public heritage.

They are organized by the European network against speculation and  for housing rights,which was created during meetings in Naples, Wuppertal,  Athens, Paris, and which gathered together movements of a dozen of countries.

The network wishes to organize, this March 12, a demonstration in Cannes, near MIPIM, during which a trial of speculation and expensive housing will take place. Representatives of various  European countries will come to testify about disastrous consequences of speculation, financiarisation and housing high cost and about resistances which are being set up.

This time coincides with the municipal elections campaign in France, during which the question of housing, important municipal competence, will be one of the important points.

Of course, Droit au Logement /No Vox will be involved in the the organization of this day and thank you in advance for your practical support for this initiative in Cannes.