Policy and Practice and the Right to Housing in Europe - How do activists in neoliberal urban environments frame and address the housing crisis?

Abstract

Cities all over the world are rising up against the neoliberal structures holding their living places captive. The struggles have been labelled cost of living crisis, taking back the right to our city or unaffordability of housing. According to David Harvey, creating a qualitatively different kind of urban sociality is one of the most precious of all human rights. But living in a city, the social reality does not always let people choose the place they live in. Housing has become a commodity in many countries and cities worldwide. Facing these violations of fundamental human rights, people become activists, advocating equal access to adequate housing for everyone. This thesis aims at looking into the right to housing in policy and practice in Europe. Through a comparative case study approach combining Romania, Turkey and Germany and qualitative interviews with activists in these countries, it develops knowledge on how the right to housing can be addressed and realised in order to overcome the housing crisis in Europe.