TEMA# 7 – Housing
What’s up with housing?
I own, you lodge, it dwells and we reside – How do people in Europe live and how do they reside? Do they own their own home, live in a dormitory or are they homeless? While some can’t imagine something better than having their own four walls, for others having a solid place of living is unimaginable, for some not even desirable. According to the European Social Charter, "adequate housing" is a human right. But what does adequate mean? Are refugee camps on the routes and borders of Europe “adequate”? Or is it adequate to invest over 50% of one's income for housing? Housing in Europe's capitals is de facto already unaffordable for many. Has private space become a luxury by now? How will we survive if housing becomes a stroke of luck and can we justify that societies divide into rich and poor, privileged and forgotten, resident and homeless? Our apartments may be private, our housing is highly political for sure.
The luxury homeownership content paradigm
With a sense of escapism, we click ourselves through an endless stream of luxury homeownership content on social media. But why do we immerse ourselves in this sort of content that is, for most of us, far removed from the attainable reality?