Schwälkenberg lets Schwälkenberg down: application for an apartment!

Schwälkenberg lets Schwälkenberg down: application for an apartment!

Schwerin, Deutschland - The decision of the Schwerin city council causes excitement: On Monday evening, a test application was clearly rejected to check the purchase of the Schwälkenberg building complex. Only a handful of deputies spoke in favor of the application, while the majority abandoned the idea. The declared goal of the application was to secure the approximately 60 cheap apartments for the previous residents, but the city administration signaled in advance that it does not strive for a purchase for financial reasons and set other priorities. The owners plan to sell the buildings to a private investor. The tenants, on the other hand, are given the opportunity to acquire their own apartments themselves, which, however, hardly appears as a realistic option for many.

What does the loss of these apartments mean for the residents concerned? Especially at a time when affordable living space in cities becomes increasingly a luxury goods, the question arises how the city wants to deal with the housing shortage. David Madden's book "In Defense of Housing" and Peter Marcuse outlines the urgency to treat living as a human right and demands radical measures to cope with the housing crises in our urban centers. The social inequalities, reinforced by urbanization, are particularly evident in the living conditions of the city dwellers. Those who have low income often live in the smaller, older and dubious accommodations, while creating new, modern living space often fails due to the reality of gentrification.

The apartment question and social justice

The apartment question is considered part of the social question that has existed since industrialization in the 19th century. Precarious living conditions are particularly pronounced in single parents, households with a migration background and tenants with low educational qualifications. These groups often have to struggle with high rental loads, which increases the income in income. Social science analyzes show that households with low incomes have little access to modern new apartments, which further opens the gap between poor and rich. In the major German cities, low earners often live to rent and in apartments that do not meet the contemporary standards, which endangers the demands on decent living.

In the context of such challenges, many experts demand a fairer housing policy. The approach of municipal socialism or the cooperative movement, which in the past led to the creation of living space for workers, could still offer an interesting model today. Innovative concepts such as the garden city movement or the idea of social housing, as was followed in Vienna to protect the "Viennese model" against gentrification, could provide impulses for new solutions to cope with the current crisis.

The decisions in Schwerin raise questions that go far beyond the city limits. What about the concept of living as a fundamental right, and how can the apartment question be designed fairer? If cities do not rethink and enable people to live as inalienable, this could lead to an even more serious social inequality - a state that we should all avoid at all costs.

The current situation in Schwerin is a clear signal that it is high time to seriously rethink residential policy and to counter the social question with an innovative approach. The next steps will show whether the city council is willing to face the challenges of the future or whether the tenants are ultimately the victims of the political standstill. Because one thing is certain: there is something!