the secrets of some. problems card starts oct 11th. you know. in an effort that it's obvious that the private housing market isn't helping berlin that that's why we see expropriation as the solution and i guess it's obvious that socialist housing policy and has nothing to do with market forces out of any support rather what they don't have a right to an unlimited return at the expense of the city social fabric.

when looking for a place to live a lot comes into play size design neighborhood proximity to work school or to friends and family but often the most decisive factor is price and that depends on supply demand interest rates demographic changes geographic location overall economic growth you get the picture it's complicated but the simple truth is everyone needs a place to call home and a combination of those factors i mentioned can make finding a lasting shelter difficult for many our theme for today's edition of made in germany is the housing shortage as well see it's a big problem. well start right here in berlin it's a city with the fastest rising property prices in the world in the early 2000 the cash struck the german capital sold off huge chunks of public housing to private interests the dearth of affordable housing has only worsened since then berlin has become a battleground between renters real estate investors developers and politicians.

tenants in berlin are fighting for their rights in an unprecedented move they have founded an initiative demanding that some of the property owned by large real estate companies be nationalized. they gathered $77000.00 signatures for a referendum petition for. the referendum question it's based on article 15 of the german basic law it states that property may be transferred to public ownership for the purpose of socialization this article is never been invoked. in terms of history and basic law and also the market economy we see this is a really and think of all we call upon the city government and the federal government to put an immediate stop to the whole affair. the campaign wants to see real estate companies that own over 3000 properties sell them to the city this

would entail ownership of some 245000 rental apartments transferred to a public agency. turn the companies would receive compensation to the tune of double digit billions funds that could be used for new construction projects. the german capital is witnessing a battle over affordable housing between tenants real estate owners and politicians . living spaces in seriously short supply and has a shortfall of tens of thousands of apartments speculation is on the rinds the last decade has seen rents double. at the same time as a construction the entire neighborhoods are sprouting up like here in the district of. this housing complex is brand new tenants are paying up to 16 square meter a studio apartment cost $350000.00 euros making it financially out of reach to many

but there just aren't enough affordable apartments for rent owned by public housing associations like this one a 54 square meter apartment for 500 years a month in the heart of the city. a place like this will always attract a lot of interest. and there is like. 50 people. really did. do ok share price everything contributes. more than a roof over my head i want to enjoy life that's a factor too. difficult. with. its famously affordable housing helped the vibrant capital it is today but now rising rents are pricing people out of the in a city. the left wing

government is making efforts to control the situation the senator for urban development and housing is defending the rights of the renters she'd like to see a rent cap in next to it before the end of the year this would seem monthly rent capped at a cost of between $6.10 euros per square meter depending on the building's age and overall condition their rent free would remain in place for 5 years. 10 then would have a legal right to demand a reduction in rent and landlords who refuse will face fines as of yet it's unclear . if the draw floor is legitimate. critics fear the plan would scare off real estate investors and that the move would actually worsen the housing crisis as property owners this would amount to a partial expropriation because they don't longer be able to charge the rent they've charged so far but it would be reduced in keeping with the rent that

socialist housing policy in has nothing to do with market forces but. then you might know someone who owns an apartment and is renting it out naturally has a right to do so in a financially viable way but they don't have a right to an unlimited return at the expense of the city's social fabric at the expense of the tenants existential security and there's no denying that the current situation is strained to the point of the redcap is to find the right balance again . finding that balance is also the motivation underlying this construction project at alexanderplatz and. the full my east german house stashed artistic is a prime piece of real estate worth a tidy 15000000 years it's undergoing an extensive renovation when it's ready it won't be a shopping mall or a luxury hotel it will contain $300.00 affordable apartments small businesses facilities such as child care centers and studios for artists the property was

bought by the city which is renting space to the district of mrs housing authority and an artist collective among other. market is driven by profit but in this case that just doesn't work what we need in berlin is affordable housing and what's being billed as expensive if it goes on like this we won't have any culturally diverse spaces and not the necessary social infrastructure we need to put a stop to this situation which is spiralling out of control. of course the property market needs investors but political. efforts must be made to ensure the market remains and berlin new avenues for housing being explored. 3rd to adequate housing is enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights adopted in 1988 but we knew long before that that shelter is essential to

individual survival and social cohesion here's a brief look at the history of housing. a roof over your head that protects you from the cold heat wind and rain. living space is a basic human need. cave dwellers and early humans such places where they can protect themselves from predators and enemies in time humans learn to build their own dwellings whether in the tropics the arctic the desert or the mountains. for a long time humans lived near their place of work. farmers began settling down they turned their dwellings into homes. with the industrialisation of the 19th century living space became a commodity which was sold or rented out. there was high

demand in urban centers. sometimes entire families lived in one room apartment houses were built row on row to cover the demand. companies build housing for their employees right next to the factories later entire cities were built to house workers they started commuting to and from work. today living space varies from place to place and depends on what you can afford a luxury home in the u.s. can be over 4500 square meters large in germany the average house has around 150 square meters of space in overpopulated cities like hong kong apartments are often smaller than 20 square meters millions of people worldwide can't afford any place to live they're homeless or they live in slums in the indian city of mumbai for example there are around 1000000 homeless people. in many cities around the world

rent prices are going through the roof in europe zurich paris. and london are some of the most expensive locations in berlin rentals and purchase prices have doubled over the past 10 years. living spaces have also become objects for speculators and that can pose a threat to the human rights to adequate housing. now adequate housing may be a human right but cheap housing isn't at least that's one standard argument property developer christoph is of the view that having invested in berlin means he's entitled to reap the rewards and that he then has every right to reinvest these had rewards in building as many luxury apartments in the city as he can but as ordinary berliners are priced out of the property market should grow not be allowed to keep doing got our reporter chris how to few questions for him.

it's late but christophe groaners just calling it a day on this president building site the real estate tycoon is always busy but he's found time for a brief interview gruner is one of the richest men in germany and he didn't inherit his money he made it himself his company is turning this high rise office building into luxury apartments. you know especially if you think gentrification is going to change berlin a lot it intervenes here. i think palin will retain its identity there's no law that says we have a right to live in beautiful old apartments with stucco on the ceiling for me is 6 euros a square meter it's not a fundamental right. there is a fundamental right to housing or not yes to housing but who says it has to be cheap and in the heart of the city in future affordable housing might be on the outskirts rather than downtown. in time.

tell us about the building we're in how do you find it before and pick tom. nobody was interested in it it's an old office building and was riddled with asbestos so we approached the local off artes and proposed turning it into apartments. the purchase price was 21000000 euros his company is investing a further 50000000 on transforming it ripping out the old offices installing a new facade and building all those luxury interiors. the building will have a generous 4 year and a dorm and of course the lower stories will sell for $5000.00 euros a square metre higher up twice that amount grown or sees him self as a pioneer a very high end construction projects in berlin. typo's and after 2008 everybody said stay away from berlin it's a nightmare you know so i headed to berlin and invested lots of money they said i

was nuts for. i invested counter seqlock lee and have been proved right by 2012 at the latest it became clear the berlin was set to boom. isn't it have you doubled in size as in way more than doubled since the financial crisis what if it's crazy how much bigger are you 10 times as big. as investments in several cities across germany he says he has a staff of over $700.00 and builds about $1500.00 apartments a year 2 thirds are to rent one 3rd he sells he also bought this derelict office building and surrounding plot in berlin local authorities set the condition that 30 percent must be rent controlled housing for low income people so groener had to sell part of the property to the city of berlin. to talk to you feel any obligations to society yes it is the capitalists have obligations my company never invest in property where people are already living we only buy empty buildings high

rises and old office buildings we launch greenfield projects and start from scratch and i make it easy for myself by avoiding the issue and the corresponding conflicts . but is it really so simple more and more luxury housing is going up across more and more ordinary people are being pushed out because of soaring rents is this the kind of city breadwinners want or deserve. now traditions and customs vary from country to country when it comes to property some place great importance on passing the family home on from generation to generation but not everyone is so attached to property take a look. at home of one's own for most people in europe that's a reality in italy 72 percent own their homes which is higher than the european

average of 69 percent germans however are last on the list of homeowners in the e.u. germany the land of leasers. now the whole point of a roof over your head is to provide protection from the elements and possible danger but what if the place you call home is a hazard in itself in india's financial capital by building collapses have caused the deaths of many people in recent years our n.p.r. correspondent sagna found a car bomb by to find out more. young people has lived here for much of her life this building a century old was built just as world war one ended. it's a tough climb for the 55 year old chronic need but that isn't i mean what. she says the building which is 80 tenants is crumbling. recently the

slab of stone came loose and fitted seriously injuring the neighbor on the ground floor. in the one room that young he shares with a family cracks run through the wall the plaster is billing and bamboo sticks prop up the ceiling. the monsoon rains make the structure riskier each year young pieces she's repeatedly complained to the landlord with little success. you know there was no way that i live in fear that the building will collapse my children are away at work all day so at least they're safe my husband and i stay at home we could be killed but the way i see it we're old we've lived our lives. leaving the police isn't an option for young whose family owns a modest living tenants like b. just $10.00 a month here in grand some pay even less. that's due to a colonial era law that limits reigns for old buildings like this one but that also

means owners get little money to invest in repairs leaving the structures to rot many parts of mumbai like you're in. a home to old rickety properties data shows that are more than 14000 buildings in the city that are groups of collapse due to a lack of maintenance and government apathy only of the c.e.o. of 4 storey building collapsed at the spot killing more than a dozen people and injuring many more disasters of this kind aren't uncommon in the city. who buys chronic housing was also linked to its dense population and scarcity of land the city is surrounded by water on 3 sites and has no space to grow more than 40 percent of its 18000000 residents live in slums and shantytowns experts say at the heart of the problem of the city's sky high real estate values and a powerful builders lobby. has sort of in the last 20 years for the

situation collapse of a building it would mean that there will be an option off a developing for the private developer and also because then they have much on most of these buildings out in the island city and that. the prices of. cities. even for residents who do decide to run down buildings in these prime areas on to much better. family used to live in an old building in south mumbai until it partially collapsed one day during repairs. the governments and the residents here to the so called transit camp to wait till the building was demolished and rebuilt she says the current crew too has developed leaks and gets water logged out of the monsoon. that's that mean really when we moved in here we

thought it would take a year or 2 at most but now 13 years have gone by and we have just somehow continued living here in the hope that someday we'll get our own home for young home is a much loved but dangerous place option would be to get out and lead a much broader life in a far flung suburb either way it's not much of a choice. as populations expand and cities grow ever denser optimal use of space is becoming increasingly essential but the architects and urban planners envisioning the residential projects of the future may be able to draw on lessons of the past in 1900 walter gropius founded the bauhaus school of architecture famous for minimalism and functionality 100 years on his influence is still shaping the spaces where we live and work. what urban has the look like in the future. good spaces and good light

supply is tight and prices are soaring. high rise. urban design needs to be reinvented. systematically question every time. designing. a new venture for architect. 140 units in the german city of. good living space and attractive architecture for citizens with low incomes it was commissioned by the local authorities. until now designing single family homes for the wealthy has been his speciality this is a new challenge clarity of line and form rectilinear

a minimalist aesthetic benefits work has been inspired by the bauhaus. gendered and entirely new movement that's as relevant as ever to this day. what inspires us most is the clarity and the holistic approach of the bauhaus. a group of people came together to create something new in their teaching and in their practice ranging from skyscrapers to products to graphics every area of design. for the benefit of ordinary people. runs in their subsidized housing project will be $650.00 per square meter very moderate nowadays in a city like. but it's not only about being cheap. everybody has the right to good architecture and good design. germany lacks affordable housing experts estimate it would take well over

a 1000000 units to meet demand and construction has lagged way behind rents are high and rising in cities like new lick. there was an acute housing shortage a century ago as well with math of overcrowding and terrible sanitary conditions including me tenements as here in berlin poor people often also worked in the spaces where they lived. the bauhaus movement was founded in 1919 and soon came to champion a vision of society and design that was radically new even revolutionary it wanted to create good housing for everybody. to achieve that goal they developed standardised units and industrialized production to bring down costs. it was at the forefront of modernist architecture championed simple forms free of ornament large windows and light colors. it

also pioneered prefabrication at the time it was simply not technically feasible to put together the entire modules as opposed to money factoring single component. but that changed. the course for a company makes much will for the construction industry. at its factory in holland for example it makes 16 prefab units a day including flooring and windows. they'll be put together on site to make say a kindergarten school or hospital this kind of construction can prove much faster than building in conventional ways. this is all standard complaint used to be that this is somehow inferior to simple architectural inflexible but that really doesn't apply any longer. we can do anything that conventional construction can do apart from circular but we could do that too.

but for local authorities to create affordable housing construction costs have to be kept low. when an apartment in this complex in munich goes on the market has $100.00 people apply the rent is 10 euro is a month per square meter that's cheap for the city. the complex was designed by these 3 architects for munich's municipal housing department as homes for people with average incomes their remit to build good housing as cheaply as possible. the demand for accommodation is rising as job growth in the city continues. we're going to have to reflect on our expectations and requirements. how can we create high quality small apartments. and how small a small. this doesn't mean doing without generous bases we just have to

minimize a little and get a little clever in design. unadorned for some standard windows the same layouts on each floor simplicity is key that something that our house taught us well. but the comfort of those who live there also plays a central role in designing the brooms are large and laid out well you have all. the challenges that space is limited and things are getting more expensive including grounds. so we have to respond by using this space still available to us for affordable housing. one of. us is indeed at toll order a major challenge for housing authorities urban planners and architects buildings that are cheap and actually nice to live in.

that's all for made this week but as always we hope you'll post your thoughts or comments about the show on facebook or twitter thanks for watching since you again soon.

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this is utopia news live from berlin the evidence emerges of u.s. president donald trump prodding ukraine's president for damaging information on a political rival a memo of a phone call shows president trump urging his counterparts flatterers alinsky to open a corruption probe connected to presidential candidate joe biden the call prompted democrats in the u.s. congress to launch a full impeachment inquiry against president trump where in washington. also coming up it is back to business parliament's.