Housing in Europe: Time to Evict the Crisis
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In 2008, Aitec published a special issue of Passerelle entitled 7 “Europe pas sans toît” (“Actions against a homeless Europe”), which presented an overview of the situation of housing in Europe. In 2008, the crisis and its impact 09/2012 on housing were already a topic discussed in the issue, given that the subprime N°7 crisis had just taken place. Four years later, we believed it was important to call upon some of the authors in the previous issue as well as to contact others, to show the devastating impact of this “crisis” on inhabitants and their living environment. By providing a critical analysis of the crisis, viewed through the perspective of housing and from a European angle, we hope we were able to successfully avoid the pitfall of cliché – even though the term is omnipresent in the media and in political discourse –, and that we have succeeded in taking up the twofold challenge we had defined: to place the question of housing at the centre of the analysis of the crisis, S and to deconstruct the dominant narrative on the reasons for the crisis . I S I R C Charlotte Mathivet is the editor of this issue of Passerelle. She is a political E scientist and a Right to Housing and Right to the City activist. She works for Aitec H T and the international network Habitat International Coalition (HIC). ICT O EV T AITEC (Association Internationale des Techniciens, Experts et Chercheurs – International Organisation of Engineers, Experts and Researchers) is a network of IME T activists, professionals and researchers who participate in social struggles. AITEC : contributes to producing expertise which is rooted in social struggles and to setting ROPE forth alternative propositions for the defence and enforcement of fundamental rights. EU IN G SIN U O H Aitec is the co-editor of this special issue of Passerelle. Housing in Europe: Time to Evict the Crisis Coredem is a project developed jointly by the Charles Léopold 09/2012 Mayer Foundation (FPH) and Ritimo. E LL E R E SS www.coredem.info Price : 10 euros ISBN : 2-914180-47-0 pa Couv_Passerelle_7EN.indd 1 07/08/12 11:42 Housing in Europe: Time to Evict the Crisis Passerelle_7_En.indd 3 07/08/12 11:51 Passerelle is a journal dedicated to promoting and fostering the experience, reflec- tion and proposals of the numerous individuals and groups involved in positive so- cial change. Each issue is an attempt to weave together various contributions on a specific issue by NGOs, civil society organisations, media, trade unions, social move- ments, academics and citizens. New issues of Passerelle are often published in the framework of public conferences (held in France or elsewhere), which pursue a similar objective: creating space for dialogue, sharing and building common ground between the promoters of social change. All issues are available online at: http://www.coredem.info/rubrique7.html Coredem Coredem is an online platform created for agents of social change as a tool for pool- ing and sharing knowledge and practices. Approximately 30 organisations and net- works are currently involved in the project. It is aimed at providing better access to their informational resources and documents by using, for instance, a specific search engine. Coredem is open to any organisation, network, social movement or media considering the information, experience and proposals they set forth as build- ing blocks for fairer, more sustainable and more responsible societies. Ritimo Passerelle is published by Ritimo, a French network for information and docu- mentation on international solidarity and sustainable development. In 90 locations throughout France, Ritimo members are involved in: opening public information centres on global issues; organising civil society campaigns at the local and national level; developing training sessions, school activities and public events. Ritimo is ac- tively involved in producing and disseminating documents and information online in several languages, by means of its international website: www.ritimo.org AITEC (Association Internationale des Techniciens, Experts et Chercheurs – Interna- tional Organisation of Engineers, Experts and Researchers) is the co-editor of this special issue. The organisation was created by city planners, economists, company executives, jurists, etc., in order to build bridges between professional practices and political commitment. AITEC contributes to producing expertise which is rooted in social struggles and to setting forth alternative propositions for the right to housing and to the city, international finance and the European Union’s trade and investment policies. http://aitec.reseau-ipam.org Passerelle_7_En.indd 4 07/08/12 11:51 Table of Contents Presentation of the Passerelle issue « Housing in Europe : Time to Evict the Crisis » 8 BY CHARLOTTE MATHIVET INTRODUCTION Urban Policies in the Crisis of Globalisation 11 BY GUSTAVE MASSIAH The European Union’s Impact on Housing 25 BY MARC UHRY HOUSING: A SYMPTOM OF THE CRISIS IN EUROPE 24 In a World Economy Dominated by Financial Speculation, There is No Right to Housing 25 BY SONIA FAymAN AND KRISTINA KERESZTELY Subsidised Housing and Home Ownership 29 BY ANNE QUERRIEN Istanbul, a Rebelling City Under Construction 34 BY EZGI BAKÇAY ÇOLAK The Impact of the Crisis on Housing and Urban Renewal in Budapest 41 BY KRISZTINA KERESZTELY In Portugal, Austerity Policies and Liberalisation in the Name of the Right to Housing! 48 INTERVIEW WITH RITA SILVA BY SAMUEL JABLON Passerelle_7_En.indd 5 07/08/12 11:51 FOCUS ON SOCIAL HOUSING The Financialisation and Questioning of Social Housing in France and in Europe 52 BY Jean-Pierre TROCHE The Commodification of Social Housing 54 BY Jean-BAPTISTE EYRAUD Social Rental Housing in Europe 59 BY ANNE QUERRIEN Social Housing in Belgium 62 BY PASCALE THYS Numerous TYPES of POVerty AND THEIR Impact on Housing Rights 65 « Housing First » : a New Approach for the Effective Enforcement of the Right to Housing ? 66 BY CÉCILE CANPOLAT Campsite Brawls and the Abuse of Unfair Laws in France 69 BY PAUL LACOSTE Green Economic Incentives versus Environmental Justice. Risks for Energy Poverty. 75 BY YVES JOUFFE Housing for People Suffering Mental Distress : an Overlooked Issue in Housing Policies 81 BY PASCALE THYS « Roma Migrants » in the Ile-de-France Region : a Provisional Overview of Accomodation and Housing Policies for Inhabitants of Slums and Shantytowns 88 BY ROMEUROPE Passerelle_7_En.indd 6 07/08/12 11:51 ALTERNATIVES 94 The « Right to the City » in Hamburg : a Network that Should be More Widely Known 95 BY ELODIE VITTU Spanish Citizens’ Active Participation in the City. The Case of Seville. 101 BY ALEJANDRO MUCHADA ET PABLO ALVERO Housing Cooperatives: Making Habitat Political (and Vice–Versa) 107 BY YANN MAURY Squatting and City Planning in Amsterdam : a Common History 115 BY INGRID PETIT In Spain, Inhabitants Are Organising to Face the Mortgage Crisis 120 BY ADA COLAU When National Policies Stand Against Human and Housing Rights. Lessons from Istanbul. 122 BY YVES CABANNES AND CIHAN UZUNCARSILI BAYSAL The Urban Social Forum in Naples: an Opportunity to Strengthen the Alliances and Articulations between European Movements 128 BY CHARLOTTE MATHIVET AND VANESA VALIÑO Passerelle_7_En.indd 7 07/08/12 11:51 Presentation BY CHARLOTTE MatHIVET /JULY 2012 Charlotte Mathivet is a political scientist and a Right to Housing and Right to the City activist. She works at Aitec and the international net- work Habitat International Coalition (HIC). his special issue of Passerelle was originally imagined as a revised edition of the 2008 issue, entitled “Europe pas sans toit” (“Actions against a Home- less Europe”), which presented an overview of the situation of housing Tin Europe. In 2008, the crisis and its impact on housing were already a topic discussed in the issue, given that the subprime crisis had just taken place. Four years later, we believed it was important to call upon some of the authors in the previous issue as well as to contact others, to show the devastating impact of this «crisis» on inhabitants and their living environment. By providing a critical analysis of the crisis, viewed through the perspective of hous- ing and from a European angle, we hope we were able to successfully avoid the pitfall of cliché – even though the term is omnipresent in the media and in political discourse –, and that we have succeeded in taking up the twofold challenge we had defined: to place the question of housing at the centre of the analysis of the crisis, and to deconstruct the dominant narrative on the reasons for the crisis. The Latin etymology of this term indicates that a crisis is what happens when there is a watershed, at a time when decisions must be made to choose between different alternatives. Indeed, in medical terms, a “crisis” is the climax of a disease, the turning point; the critical stage. Hence there are only two solutions for the concerned body: to heal or to degenerate, maybe even die. The idea of death, of widespread suffer- ing, is quite perceptible in political discourses, in the media, and even in citizens’ 8 Passerelle_7_En.indd 8 07/08/12 11:51 Presentation discourses, which were pushed into integrating it by the media hype. This discourse on the crisis breeds feelings and reactions of fear in the face of an uncertain future. This widespread suffering and fear are tools used by the ruling class to legitimise, solidify and even to reinforce the existing system. It is the framework for our lead- ers’ justifications of the austerity policies imposed upon all the European peoples, entailing wage cuts, job losses, the destruction of public services, etc. And there it is: even though this multidimensional crisis has clearly evidenced the failure of the neoliberal capitalist system to provide well-being to a majority of the population, our political leaders are using the crisis itself.