Dear friends,
HIC Board meeting, 10-11 September 2005 in Cairo, decided to set up a “Working Group on Globalization and Privatization of Habitat” including land, housing, utilities and the impact of free trade agreements in habitat. This working group aims:
- to exchange experiences of struggles and means of organization both in the North and the South,
- to seek both members and information on the issues affecting each region in order to get more people, organizations involved,
- map the information of the organizations working in the countries where HIC has presence and define a working agenda,
- identify specific transnational companies and issues in different countries.
At 20th and 21st November a workshop in Bochum, Germany discussed challenges regarding the rapid praivatisation and overtaking of former social housing schemes and companies by international private finacial investors, in particular Private Equity Funds like Fortress, Terra Firma, Morgan Stanley. German housing markets are a main target of these global real etsate speculators which orientate on interest rates over 20 %. One of the workshop sessions focused on experiences in the US, London, Russia, Austria, France. Another session concentrated on the structures and methods of these groups, experiences with mass privatisation of public and company housing in Berlin, Frankfurt. The last session was a branstorming about possible priorities and action. As a result the meeting proposed to improve net-working in Germany, Europe and internationally.
S U B S C R I B E
As a second step for the development of the working group we have registred a new emai-list. It should become a privileged space for internal exchange of information and intensive discussion on the action, strategies and issues of the working group. The membership in this list is limited to those HIC-members and friends who actively want to participate in the working group.
If you are interested subscribe to [hic-wg-globalization]:
http://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/hic-wg-globalization
Greetings
Knut Unger
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Email: unger@habitants.de
Habitat-Netz. e.V., Germany
Schillerstr. 13. 46,D- 58452 Witten
Tel. ++49-(0)2302-276171
Fax. ++49-(0)2302-27320
