Europa Ocidental

The Urban Social Forum opens in Naples with a field visit from the UN Special Rapporteur

Published in Monday September 10th, 2012 In Social movement news

Naples gave a warm welcome to the second Urban Social Forum (USF). The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing accompanied a USF delegation to the popular neighbourhood Scampia, where she held a reunion with social organizations and the inhabitants of the Giugliano roma camp, who live under an eviction order threat.

Tags , , , , ,

Cameron and Clegg unveil planning reforms in the UK

Published in Monday September 10th, 2012 In In the media

September 06, 2012 Coalition announces measures designed to boost housing and growth through cash injection and loosening of laws David Cameron and Nick Clegg have announced a package of measures designed to boost the housing industry and growth through an injection of cash, looser planning laws and the lifting of requirements for developers to build affordable […]

Tags

Planning policy in the UK: Don’t blame the countryside for our lack of housing

Published in Monday September 10th, 2012 In In the media

September 06, 2012 Britain is desperately inefficient in its land use, and there are still no measures to bring empty property back on the market The government’s learning curve on planning is like an ant climbing a mountain. Desperate for someone to blame for the lack of growth, David Cameron has fallen back on the […]

Tags

In Ruined Apartments, a Symbol of Ireland’s Fall

Published in Wednesday September 5th, 2012 In In the media

September 3rd, 2012 To visit Graham Usher’s dream apartment in Priory Hall, the most notorious of Ireland’s ruined ghost developments, is to see what Ireland aspired to be, and what it became instead. The apartment, bought for $315,000 in early 2006, is now covered by a brick facade that looks as if some giant creature had raked […]

Tags

Squatting set to become a criminal offence in the UK

Published in Monday September 3rd, 2012 In In the media

August 31st, 2012 Squatting in a residential building in England and Wales becomes a criminal offence on Saturday, meaning squatters would face jail or a fine. Ministers said it would offer better protection for homeowners and “slam shut the door on squatters once and for all”. The maximum penalty will be six months in jail, a […]

Tags , , ,

New expulsions, persecution of Roma have some warning ‘Hitler was not alone’

Published in Monday September 3rd, 2012 In In the media

August 31st, 2012 “Remember that Hilter was never alone,” warns one European journalist and blogger in the wake of recent violence throughout Europe, racist actions by right wing groups, and now, just this week – more forcible expulsions of the group known as “Roma” or gypsies fromFrance. Meanwhile today, human rights groups, the European Union and several […]

Tags , ,

France urged to stop discrimination against Roma

Published in Thursday August 30th, 2012 In News on the Rapporteurs

The French government has been urged by United Nations independent experts to stop discrimination against the Roma people. The Special Rapporteurs on minority issues, migrants, housing and racism say that evictions of the Roma continue and threaten to place families in highly vulnerable situations.

Tags , , , ,

An Englishman’s castle: social housing in Britain

Published in Thursday August 30th, 2012 In In the media

August 25, 2012 Britain desperately needs more homes IN A city overflowing with people, the Heygate estate, near Elephant and Castle in south London, is an eerie place. Most of the flats lie empty, the windows and doors shuttered with metal plates. Concrete walkways, once intended as “streets in the sky”, extend uselessly into open […]

Tags

Roma evictions/expulsions: “France must comply with international non-discrimination standards”

Published in Thursday August 30th, 2012

United Nations human rights experts urged the French Government to ensure that its policies and practices regarding the dismantling of Roma settlements and the expulsion of migrant Roma conform in all respects to European and international human rights law relating to non-discrimination. “Evictions continue and threaten to place families in highly vulnerable situations,” stressed the Special Rapporteurs on minority issues, migrants, housing and racism.

Tags ,

In Spain, Madrid’s ‘slum of shame’ faces uncertain future

Published in Wednesday August 29th, 2012 In In the media

August 28, 2012 Europe’s largest illegal settlement lies just outside the Spanish capital, Madrid. A sprawling tangle of tents and cement houses, Cañada Real is now home to over 40,000 people. But maybe not for long… In Cañada Real, roads and alleyways are unpaved. Houses are made of corrugated metal or cement. Some lots are […]

Tags , ,