Short presentation of initiatives from India, South Africa and Berlin taking part in the exchange event on 28-10-2020 1. Housing and Land Rights ...
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Short presentation of initiatives from India, South Africa and Berlin taking part in the exchange event on 28-10-2020 1. Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), New Delhi, India Who we are The Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) is an Indian non- profit organization based in New Delhi. It works on promoting the realization of everyone’s right to live with peace, safety, security, and dignity. In particular, its work focuses on integrating a strong human rights and gender equality approach to housing and land, with special emphasis on the rights of the most marginalized. What we do Founded in 1999, HLRN has been working for the last twenty years on issues of homelessness, forced evictions, displacement, resettlement, land rights, disasters, and climate change. Its strategies include research, publication, human rights education, advocacy, standard-setting, development of human rights-based monitoring tools, and coalition-building at local, national, and international levels. The organization works closely with local communities and the United Nations human rights system. More information is available at: www.hlrn.org.in and @HLRN_India. Shivani Chaudhry is the Executive Director of Housing and Land Rights Network India (HLRN), New Delhi, where she has been working since 2004. She has been working in the field of human rights for twenty years, with a specific focus on economic, social, and cultural rights, especially the human rights to adequate housing, land, livelihood, and the environment. She has conducted several human rights education and training workshops at the national and international levels, and has also contributed to the development of international standards related to housing and land rights. These include the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Security of Tenure for the Urban Poor and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, among others. Shivani is associated with several national and international networks and social movements. She was a member of the Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development's Task Force on Land Reforms, and contributed to the draft National Land Reform Policy 2013 and draft National Right to Homestead Bill 2013. Contact: shivani@hlrn.org.in
2. Abahlali baseMjo
Südafrika
2. Abahlali baseMjondolo movement, South Africa
Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM, Zulu, in English: 'those living in the shacks') is Ab
a shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which fights against evictions Le
and for the right to stay of those living in self-organised settlements, as
bz
well as for fair access to state-subsidised housing for all those suffering
from poor housing conditions. The movement emerged from a road Zw
blockade organised in early 2005 from the Kennedy Road housing estate in W
the city of Durban, which spread to other cities in South Africa (initially sc
Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town, but now also in the greater W
Johannesburg area and other major cities in the country).
Die Bewegung ging aus ein
It is the largest social movement in South Africa and is committed to improving
KennedytheRoadliving
in der Stadt
conditions of historically disadvantaged groups and to a radical democratisation of society from
(zunächst Pietermaritzburg
below. In 2019 it had over 70,000 paying members.
anderen großen Städten de
Abahlali baseMjondolo organises demonstrations, engages in direct actions und such
setzt as
sichland
sich für die V
Bevölkerungsgruppen
occupations or the establishment of self-organised water and electricity connections. AbM uses - und
as far as possible - court decisions and legal proceedings to enforce the rightsJahr
guaranteed in the
2019 hatte sie über 70
constitution. As an example, AbM brought the KwaZulu-Natal Slums Act of 2007 before the
Abahlali evictions,
Constitutional Court and had some of its articles, which would have greatly facilitated baseMjondolo füh
withdrawn as unconstitutional. Landbesetzungen, der Hers
nutzt – soweit dies möglich
Abahlali protested against the effects of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which led in to
derevictions and garantier
Verfassung
displacement of inner city residents. AbM exposes cases of corruption in which von 2007publicvor
funds
das Verfassun
designated to improve living conditions in the settlements were misappropriated. The movement
Zwangsräumungen sehr erl
strongly opposes xenophobia, which is used by some politicians as a means of division, and fights
mussten.
against land speculation that leads to the displacement of the people. In this way the movement
has made many powerful enemies. Die Bewegung protestierte
die zu Vertreibungen und V
Abahlali's main slogans include 'Don't talk about us, talk to us' and 'Nothing for us, without us'.
zahlreiche Korruptionsfälle
AbM receives support from church leaders of various faiths and participates in the Poor People's
Alliance, a network of radical grassroots movements in South Africa. AbM has Lebensbedingungen
also established in den
solidarity relationships with other groups worldwide. At the same time, Abahlaliundfaces
Ausländerfeindlichkeit
on-going
and sometimes violent repression, including murder. 18 Abahlali leaders have und kämpft gegen spekulat
been murdered
since 2009. führen. Dadurch hat sich di
Zu den
In 2020, despite a moratorium on forced evictions due to the COVID 19 pandemic, therewichtigsten
were still Slogans
evictions and settlement destructions in Durban, which were documented and "Nichts für uns, ohne uns".
internationally
publicized by Abahlali, together with the Church Land Programme (CLP). PeopleGlaubensrichtungen
protesting against und be
these evictions were shot at with live ammunition. Basisbewegungen in Südafr
weltweit geknüpft – etwa d
www.abahlali.org
Abahlali einer anhaltenden
gehören. 18 Führungsperso
Im Jahr 2020 kam es trotz e
Pandemie dennoch zu Vert
protestierende Menschen w
Abahlali gemeinsam mit de
international bekanntgema
Menschenrechtsverletzung
www.abahlali.org
3. Reclaim the City – Die Stadt zurückfordern, Kapstadt
3. Reclaim the City, Cape Town
Wer wir sind
Who wethe
Reclaim areCity ist eine Bewegung von Mietern und Arbeitern, die
sich dafürthe
Reclaim einsetzt,
City isunsere Vertreibung
a movement aus gut
of tenants andgelegenen Gebieten
workers campaigning
zu stoppen und den Zugang zu menschenwürdigem,
to stop our displacement from well-located areas and secure access
erschwinglichem
to decent affordable Wohnraum zu sichern.
housing. Wir glauben,
We believe dass to
it is time es an derthe
take
Zeit ist, den
struggle forKampf
housing umtoWohnraum
the centreins of Zentrum
the city, der Stadt
to the zu tragen,
heart of power,
ins Herz der Macht, zu den Menschen, die dort leben sollten,
to the people who should live there, and to the land that matters. und zu
dem Land, auf das es ankommt.
Reclaim the City members want to build an inclusive spatially just city. We are campaigning for the
Reclaim the CityofMitglieder
redistribution empty and wollen eine integrative,
underutilised publicräumlich
land to gerechte
poor andStadt bauen.
working Wir people.
class setzen unsWe
für die Umverteilung von leerem und ungenutztem öffentlichem Land an arme
provide support and solidarity to our members who are struggling with landlords and being Menschen und
Menschen
evicted into derhomelessness.
ArbeiterklasseWe ein.believe
Wir unterstützen
they can beund no solidarisieren unsere
just eviction in Mitglieder,
a housing die we
crisis and mit will
Grundbesitzern kämpfen und in die Obdachlosigkeit vertrieben werden.
give advice, defend and resist unjust evictions in the courts and on the streets. Wir glauben, dass sie in
einer Wohnungskrise keine gerechte Räumung sein können, und wir werden Ratschläge geben,
uns verteidigen
Reclaim und vision
The City’s ungerechten Räumungen
is to realise a city invor Gericht und auf der Straße widerstehen.
which:
Unsere
There urbane
is just Vision
and equalist dieaccess
Verwirklichung einer Stadt,
to well-located land;in der:
There is safe, affordable, reliable and
! ein gerechter
accessible und gleichberechtigter
public transport systems, public Zugang
healthzu gut gelegenen
care, schools, Grundstücken besteht;
recreation facilities and basic
! sichere,
services; erschwingliche,
Resources and access zuverlässige
to servicesund
for zugängliche öffentlicheofVerkehrssysteme,
all people regardless race, class, religion, gender
and/oröffentliche Gesundheitsversorgung,
sexual orientation are guaranteed; Schulen, Erholungseinrichtungen
The working-class, und grundlegende
poor and unemployed have decent
Dienstleistungen
and affordable homesvorhanden
to live in; sind;
Relocation camps that displace people do not exist; All people,
! Ressourcen
especially womenund andZugang zu Dienstleistungen
children, für alleand
feel safe and secure; Menschen unabhängig
all spheres von Rasse,
of government - especially
local Klasse, Religion,and
government; Geschlecht und/oder
all spheres sexueller
of private Orientierung
capital (includinggewährleistet sind; owners and
private property
! die Arbeiterklasse,
developers, Arme und Arbeitslose
financial institutions ein anständiges
and corporates) und erschwingliches
act efficiently, transparently Zuhause
and fairly with
haben,
regards in dem
to land, sie leben
housing können;
and the provision of basic services.
! es keine Umsiedlungslager gibt, in die Menschen zwangsverbracht werden;
In order to achieve its vision and objectives Reclaim the City commits to taking on the following
! sich alle Menschen, insbesondere Frauen und Kinder, sicher und geborgen fühlen;
actions, campaigns and strategies, when appropriate:
! alle Regierungsbereiche - insbesondere die Kommunalverwaltung - und alle Bereiche des
Resist Kapitals
• privaten unjust evictions;
(einschließlich der privaten Eigentümer und Bauträger, der
Stopping the sale und
• Finanzinstitutionen and Unternehmen)
lease of public land that transparent
effizient, could be used forfair
und affordable
in Bezughousing;
auf den
Protest
• Zugang in a variety of non-violent forms to achieve our objectives;
zu Land und Wohnraum sowie die Bereitstellung grundlegender Dienstleistungen
Support the expropriation of property which aligns with the vision, objectives, principles
• handeln.
and values of Reclaim The City;
• Provide
Um ihre Vision und rights-based
ihre Ziele education on verpflichtet
zu erreichen, land and housing issues; and
sich Reclaim the City, unter anderem die
• ActMaßnahmen,
folgenden and stand in Kampagnen
solidarity with
undcommunities
Strategien zu engaged
ergreifen:in land and housing struggles.
! Widerstand
Reclaim the City’sgegen ungerechtfertigte
objectives are to: Vertreibungen zu leisten;
! • den Verkauf for
Advocate undjust
dieand
Verpachtung vontoöffentlichem
equal access Land, for
land and housing dasall;
für erschwinglichen
Wohnraum genutzt werden könnte, zu stoppen;
• Undo the legacy of a segregated and unequal apartheid city;
! • Protest
Fight in
foreiner Vielzahl
decent gewaltloser
and affordable Formen
housing fordurchführen, um unsere Ziele
poor and working-class zu erreichen;
people;
! • Unterstützung
Resist unjusteiner Enteignung
evictions and endvon Eigentum, im Einklang mit der Vision, den Zielen,
homelessness;
Grundsätzen und Werten von Reclaim
• Educate people about land and housing The rights;
City;
! • Bereitstellung
Advocate forvonan auf Rechten basierender
accountable governmentBildung zuof
on issues Land-
land,und Wohnungsfragen;
housing und
and spatial justice;
! • Solidarisches
Advocate for Handeln gemeinsam
fair, just mit Gemeinschaften,
and equitable land and housingdie sich in
policies Land-
and und
laws;
Wohnungskämpfen engagieren.
• Resist and prevent unjust practices by government and all sources of private property
power including landlords, property owners and developers and financial institutions;
Ziele•vonUnite
Reclaim theand
people Citybuild
sind:solidarity with other
! • Fürmovements
einen gerechten und gleichen
that are aligned Zugang
with zu Land und
our principles, Wohnraum
objectives für alleand
and vision; einzutreten;
! • DasDisrupt
Erbe einer segregierten
unjust und ungleichen Apartheid-Stadt rückgängig zu machen;
property power.
http://reclaimthecity.org.za/
4. Khayelitsha Peace Building Team, Cape Town Who we are Established in 2017 and based in Khayelitsha Site C, the Khayelitsha Peacebuilding Team advocates for Human Rights of Nationals and Non-Nationals across the Western Cape. This is done through mitigating and prevention of collective violence by creating opportunities for engagement for local communities by identifying root causes of this violence. What we do KPBT runs campaigns, workshops and trainings based on a detailed research and policy analysis whose aim is to achieve a non-violent, free and safe South Africa where human rights are respected by all citizens. KPBT continues to support and strengthen community led solutions to resolve collective violence and discrimination against non-nationals. Over the past 12 months the organisation has been playing a role of being an advice office for all community related issues and has been heavily involved in the struggles for access to urban land and housing for community members, a majority of which is poor and marginalised. The struggles for housing specifically in the context of Covid-19 has led to the recent spikes in vacant land occupations across Cape Town and Khayelitsha in particular. KPBT continues to support Khayelitsha communities in their struggle for dignified housing
101 Lower Main Road, Observatory, 7925
Cape Town, South Africa
Telephone: +27(21) 448 7886
Email: dag@dag.org.za
www.dag.org.za
5. Development Action Group – DAG, Cape Town
What we are
The Development Action Group (DAG) is a non-governmental, not for profit organization
established in 1986 with a focus on South African urban development and housing issues. DAG is a
leading NGO in the field of urban development in South Africa and has been at the forefront of
housing delivery and policy development within the urban development context for over 33 years.
DAG’s strategic objective is to demonstrate how working in partnership with citizens and other
groups who share a pro-poor agenda can lead to creative and sustainable solutions that redress
social, economic and spatial inequalities.
What we do
At a city-wide level, DAG has systematically worked with a range of government and civil society
stakeholders in urban development and governance to ensure that there is accountability,
transparency and good governance on the part of the state and that community leaders and
representatives participate more meaningfully in decision-making processes.
Alongside this city-wide agenda, DAG has also incrementally developed an innovative approach to
the delivery of low-income housing. Through DAG’s support, 7,323 new houses have been built,
resulting in improved tenure security for more than 27,000 people and direct assistance has been
provided in securing land, infrastructure, and housing and community services to more than
100,000 households in over 80 projects. Over the last ten years, DAG has also built the capacity of
over 750 civic leaders, with a focus on women and youth.
www.dag.org.za
6. Church Land Programme – CLP, Kwa ZuluNatal, South Africa
(with excerpts from a text written by Gerhard Kienast)
Who we are - history
The Pietermaritzburg-based Church Land Programme (CLP) began its journey in 1996. Its original
objective was to make church land available to landless people waiving transfer duties and taxes
and using grants for agricultural inputs. They compiled inventories of lands held by all major
Christian churches and acted as a mediator between churches, government and communities. In
retrospect, CLP director Graham Philpott is very sober about the outcomes: ‘It was a lovely theory
but the practice was very different! In one case where a church was willing to donate land, it took
8 years to complete the transfer. ‘ CLP came to the conclusion that facilitation alone would not be
enough to protect poor families from being sidelined.
CLP had the courage to radically shift its strategy when it found that it was based on the wrong
assumptions. Disillusioned by the results of its interventions for the transfer of church-owned land
to communities living on it, CLP discarded the typical relationship between NGO workers and
grassroots people. Walking with social movements like Abahlali baseMjondolo, it has helped to
create alternatives to the prevailing concepts of development and capacity building.
CLP stepped out of the spaces of church and government. Instead of focussing on church-owned
land it started to deal with struggles around land in general. Philpott explains: ‘We are no longer
focussing on technical issues but on justice. Our work is now about systems of transformation, not
systems of delivery. ‘ The history of that question was summarised in CLP’s Occasional Paper: Land
in South Africa: Gift for all or Commodity for a few.
At the same time, the organisations became aware that merely ‘speaking for the interests of the
poor’ was not very helpful either. CLP reflected on its own practice and that of civil society in
general. In a 2007 brochure titled ‘Learning to walk’, the organisation argued that
developmentalist ideology and practice has led to ‘the co-option of the majority of civil society
into systems of domination and exploitation‘.
This is also manifest in the way many civil society organisations interact with grassroots people, ‘so
that while claiming the opposite, NGOs in fact “teach” and impose on people, rather than
supporting and assuming people’s own capacities for learning, analysis and action for genuine
transformation.‘ As an alternative, CLP decided to adopt concepts of Paulo Freire, which have
become known as ‘animation’ or ‘training for transformation’.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘At all stages of their liberation, the oppressed must themselves as people engage in the
vocation of becoming more fully human... To achieve this… it is necessary to trust in the
oppressed and their ability to reason. Whoever lacks this trust will fail to bring about, or
will abandon, dialogue, reflection and communication, and will fall into using slogans,
communiqués, monologues and instructions. While no-one liberates themselves by their
own efforts alone, neither are they liberated by others. ‘ Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the
Oppressed, p 41-2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘Real transformation can only happen if those who suffer speak for themselves. By setting a
regular cycle of reflection and action in which a group is constantly celebrating their successes,
and analysing critically the causes of mistakes and failures, they become more and more capable
of effectively transforming their daily life. ‘
CLP learned that ‘from the first intervention in any place, it is important to be principled, clear and
consistent‘;‘that the animator will not work where access to the people of a place is denied
through the control of undemocratic leadership, and will work in open, democratic andparticipatory ways. ‘ Again and again, CLP experienced how important it is to listen to what people
actually say, and to encourage them to tell their story. ‘This requires creating opportunities ... and
is based on an assumption that those who suffer are intelligent, creative and resourceful. ‘
When people developed action plans, they were subject to a ‘rule’ that these had to be completely
independent of outside resources. This exercise proved to be very useful and productive. When
the grassroots network was faced with another human rights violation in the area, mobilisation
and action happened independently of any NGO contact person. Such experiences have convinced
CLP that it is indeed making progress in its efforts to ‘build the critical voice of the marginalised’.
What we do
Over the last years, the organisation has worked intensively with social movements like the shack-
dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo. Graham Philpott explains: ‘By being present in
movement spaces we are trying to strengthen their struggles, affirm the leadership and bring in
other institutions that can provide support.‘ Since 2007, leaders of the social movements have
enrolled at the University of KwaZulu Natal’s Centre for Adult Education and graduated with a
Certificate in Participatory Development. In parallel, CLP convened monthly sessions where the
activists could reflect on the connections between their daily experience, being militants faced
with real threats of landlessness and repression, on the one hand, with that of being academic
students engaging with written experience.
The framework for these sessions was kept very simple so that it would not in any way
predetermine the agenda or topics for discussion. CLP staff facilitated and took notes. Discussions
created an exciting synthesis that community leaders coined as a ‘living learning‘. Its main theme
was ‘how best to take back to our communities whatever we might gain? How best can our
communities benefit from the few of us who are lucky to have access to the course? ‘‘From what
we have seen, there are many at University who think that they are there to learn what to come
and “teach the poor” when they are finished studying. It is clear that they imagine they are our
educators. They assume we are empty enough and stupid enough for others to learn what they
decide, and that they will come and think for those of us who are poor and cannot think. But now
we are having our own living learning – and so there is a confrontation brewing about who’s
teaching who.‘
At least the Church Land Programme has no problem with being taught by shack dwellers. Walking
together has created a lot of mutual trust and esteem, and CLP is proud of Abalahli’s praise for
their ‘willingness to listen, learning rather than masterminding and dictating over the poor‘.
CLP has a clear and firm organisational commitment to animation as its core practice, leading to an
open-ended commitment to walking with organised formations towards the realisation of the
choices that they make in their struggles for justice. Consequent to this, people’s movements,
organised groups of the marginalised, and those acting in solidarity from within institutional
spaces, are the key groups with whom CLP interacts. CLP is thus open to the politics of the poor,
and its practice is guided by an active solidarity with people in the struggles that they define and
take forward on their own terms. In order to ensure congruency here, CLP has thought carefully
about the matter of solidarity too. Living solidarity means to be with the people in their life and
struggles. It is meaningful and effective when it is:
! on the terms set by activists themselves,
! concrete and directly connected to actual and specific struggle (not reduced to abstract ideas
in petitions that anyone can easily sign) and
! 'divisive' in the sense of forcing a decision to take sides in a real struggle.
http://www.churchland.org.za/7. Alliance to Prevent Evictions, Berlin
Who we7.are
Bündnis Zwangsräumung verhindern, Berlin
The Alliance to Prevent Evictions in Berlin brings together political activists,
neighbours,
Wer victims
wir sindof forced evictions or former victims, sometimes all that
combined. Since 2012 we have been fighting against evictions and displacement.
We want Dasto Bündnis Zwangsräumung
achieve solutions verhindern
for those affected, we sindorganise
politische Aktivist*innen,resistance
solidarity-based Nachbar*innen,
and tellvon
Zwangsräumung Betroffene oder Ex-Betroffene,
real life stories from an anti-capitalist perspective. manchmal auch alles zusammen. Seit 2012
kämpfen wir gegen Zwangsräumungen und Verdrängung. Dabei wollen wir für die Betroffenen
We are wasan action-oriented group withWiderstand
rausholen, solidarischen a broad repertoire in which
organisieren undmany people can
die konkreten participate.aus einem
Geschichten
We write letters to state officials and other
antikapitalistischen Blickwinkel erzählen. responsible actors, do public relations and press work,
go to rental court sessions together, make rallies, marches and “Mikrofonikias” (street parades
Wir sind eine
with megaphones aktionsorientierte
in order to inform andGruppe mit einem breiten
invite neighbours), go-ins Repertoire,
and blockades,wo viele mitmachen
and since 2017
also organise neighbourhood meetings. We are networking with many other initiatives in thePressearbeit,
können. Wir schreiben Briefe an die Verantwortlichen, machen Öffentlichkeits- und
gehen
nationwide gemeinsam zu Miet-Prozessen,
“Mietenwahnsinn-Bündnis” machen
(an alliance Kundgebungen,
to face the madnessDemonstrationen
of the increasingund
rents)
Mikrofonikias, Go-Ins und Blockaden, seit 2017 auch Kiezversammlungen.
and are part of the Europe-wide European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the Wir sind mit vielen
City. anderen Initiativen im bundesweiten Mietenwahnsinn-Bündnis vernetzt und sind Teil der
europaweiten European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City.
Over the past 8 years we addressed over 100 cases of forced eviction in Berlin with over 250
affectedInpeople.
den 8 Jahren
We were hatten
ablewir über 100about
to prevent Fälleone
von third
Zwangsräumung
of them. Formit someüber
of 250 Betroffenen.
the tenants we Ca. ein
were ableDrittel konnten
to get a delay,wir
forverhindern. Für einige konnte
others a replacement ein Aufschub
to another flat, someerreicht,
found a für
newandere
flat oneine
their
Ersatzwohnung erzwungen werden, manche fanden selber
own, some did not report to us any more and some were finally evicted by force. eine, manche meldeten sich nicht mehr
und einige wurden
In an individualised society,gewaltsam geräumt.
where everyone looks after himself, direct actions of solidarity are a
pleasantInexperience.
einer individualisierten
Both for thoseGesellschaft,
affected and wofor
sich
thejeder selbst
people whoder nächste
practice ist, sind solidarische
solidarity. Solidarity
direkte Aktionen eine wohltuende Erfahrung. Sowohl für die Betroffenen wie auch
and direct action are our weapons against the city of the rich and against the right-wing dividers. für die Leute,
die solidarisch sind. Solidarität und direkte Aktionen sind unsere Waffen gegen die die Stadt der
Corona Reichen
– effectsund gegen
on the dieofrechten
work Spalter.
the Alliance
The emergency measures to mitigate the pandemic limit our activity options, both in meetings and
in actions. The restrictions
Corona on meetings are not
– Bündnis Zwangsräumung affecting us much so far, as we are a well-
verhindern
established group that can organise itself,
Der Ausnahmezustand der Pandemie schränkt at least for aunsere
time, without meetings or with fewer
Handlungsmöglichkeiten ein. Sowohl bei
people at meetings. There are also technical options such as online meetings. The
Treffen als auch bei Aktionen. Die Einschränkungen bei Treffen sind nicht gravierend, da restrictions forwir eine
actions eingespielte
are more impacting,
Gruppe because
sind, die Corona
sich auch,is experienced
zumindest eine as aZeit
threat and
lang, many
ohne people
Treffen avoid
oder mit weniger
direct actions and marches. Large street rallies are difficult to organise during
Leuten bei den Treffen organisieren kann. Des weiteren gibt es technische Möglichkeitenthe pandemic. In wie
addition, the real estate lobby, politicians and the press can easily defame protesters as reckless
Online-Treffen.
and irresponsible. Official regulations such as the requirement to keep a certain distance make
Die Einschränkungen bei Aktionen sind gravierender, da Corona eine wirkliche Gefährdung ist und
public action more difficult. Nevertheless, even during Corona, we carry out actions taking those
viele Menschen deshalb direkte Aktionen und Demonstrationen meiden. Großdemonstrationen
regulations into account.
sind während der Pandemie schwer möglich. Dazu kommt, dass Immobilienlobby, Politik und
Presse Protestierende leicht als leichtsinnig diffamieren können. Auch behördliche Auflagen wie
Corona Abstandsgebot
– effects on tenants
erschweren öffentliche Aktionen. Trotzdem machen wir auch während Corona
We haveAktionen
not seenunter
an increase in evictionsobiger
Berücksichtigung or other effects on tenants in Berlin since March this
Fakten.
year. So far, the state power has been successful in mitigating the social impact (subsidies for
salary losses,
Corona rent deferral, suspension
– Auswirkungen auf dieofMieter*innen
forced evictions). It has to be mentioned, however, that
for homeless people the situation is worse than before.
Wir konnten bisher keinen Anstieg von Zwangsräumungen oder andere Auswirkungen für
Corona Mieter*innen
reinforces the feststellen.
pre-existingBisher
economic crisis.
gelingt The Herrschenden
es den state authorities will
gut, dietry to passAuswirkungen
sozialen the effects
of the crisis to the wage
abzumildern earners and theMietstundung,
(Kurzarbeitergeld, unemployed. Probably
Aussetzentheyvonwill do that once the national
Zwangsräumungen). Für
elections in autumn 2021 are over. It is not foreseeable how far they will be able
Wohnungslose/Obdachlose ist die Situation schlimmer als vorher. Corona verstärkt die schon to divide the
people, vorher
e.g. by vorhandene
extending the time-frames forDie
Wirtschaftskrise. an Herrschenden
implementation of different
werden anti-social
versuchen measures
die Krise auf die
which are affecting different sectors. But at least – from a health perspective –
Lohnabhängigen und Erwerbslosen abzuwälzen, wahrscheinlich aber erst nach den Wahlen im the pandemic
should then
Herbstplay a much
2021. Wiesmaller
weit ihnenrole.dabei eine Spaltung der Betroffenen, z.B. durch zeitliche Streckung
unsozialer Maßnahmen, gelingt ist nicht absehbar. Aber zumindest die Pandemie dürfte dann aus
Gesundheitsaspekten eine deutlich geringere Rolle spielen.Counter-strategy "The rich should pay” The rent movement will continue its struggles, just as the alliance will continue to prevent and hinder evictions. A good counter-strategy against broad-based anti-social government measures could be to link the rent movement to other sectorial struggles (climate, labour, education, health). The march demanding "who has must give" was a tender start towards such a broader alliance. The rent movement would be an important element in this alliance because of its mobilisation capacity, size, experience and success legacy. The Berlin rent freeze The rent freeze in Berlin (a law which stops rent increases for the next five years and even forces the owners to lower excessive rent prices) is a success of the rent movement. The referendum on expropriation of big housing owners made an important contribution to enforce this legislation. The rent freeze was introduced by the government of the Berlin federal state last year with the clearly expressed intention to lower the dynamic (take out the wind of the sails) of the expropriation campaign. It is unlikely that a government other than “red-red-green” (a coalition of social democrats with the left and the green party in Berlin) would have introduced a rent freeze and they wouldn’t have done it without the pressure of rent movement and expropriation campaign. It still has to be seen if the Federal Constitutional Court will accept the rent freeze or declare it unconstitutional as there is a controversial legal debate if such a regulation of the housing market can be imposed by a federal state or if that would be exclusively in the competence of the national government. Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.! The campaign to expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co. was important to enforce the rent freeze. It managed to create a broad public discussion about the option to expropriate big housing owners what surprisingly was judged as a positive measure by a majority of the population. Even if, strictly speaking, the campaign is not aiming at an expropriation without compensation but at an obligatory transfer of the property of all housing owners with more than 3,000 units to a public entity against a compensation still to define (far below the market value as the campaign demands). The chances that the referendum will find enough supporters are good. However, it is doubtful whether the social power balance will be sufficient to really enforce an expropriation or a forced transfer into public property of large real estate companies in the most powerful capitalist economy in Europe. The referendum might nourish illusions about parliamentary democracy, the rule of law and civil society and disguise the class character of the state. Conclusion Many years of struggles of the rent movement with a wide variety of measures and actions have led to achievements for a number of individuals, e.g. the prevention of forced evictions, as well as improvements for many tenants, such as the Berlin rent freeze. However, in view of overcrowding and 40,000 homeless people in Berlin, it is obvious that there is a blatant lack of affordable housing. A profit-driven housing market will not change this. Long-lasting improvements for tenants cannot be expected under capitalism. This requires fundamental changes in the existing ownership and power structures. On the way to achieving this, we continue to fight for as many improvements as possible. www.berlin.zwangsraeumungverhindern.org
8. The Tenants' Council (Mieterrat) Neues Kreuzberger Zentrum (NKZ) –
Municipal and self-governed
Who we are – history
Beispiele,
KottbusserwieTor
die is
Kooperationsvereinbarung mit Leben
a dazzling place with a long historygefüllt wird, und erste Erfolge
of self-organisation der diversity. Our
and lived
Kooperation:
house, the Neue Kreuzberger Zentrum (NKZ), was built in 1974 as a privately financed social
• Der selbstorganisierte Nachbarschaftsraum NKZ: Der Raum wird von den Nachbar*innen
housing project. It has 295 residential units, 84 commercial units, mainly with long-established
selbst verwaltet und von der Gewobag kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt.
local businesses, and a multi-storey car park. Tenants from over 30 nations of different sexual and
• „Kuppel“-Vermietung: gemeinsame Ausschreibung einer 900 qm großen Gewerbefläche
religious orientations live and work together here. The tenants are colourful and self-confident.
nach den Kriterien der Nachbarschaft.
Despite being multiply marginalised in many aspects, they are characterised by a strong sense of
• Spielplatz „von unten“: partizipative Planung des lange geschlossenen Spiel- und
cohesion.
Begegnungsraums im NKZ mit der gesamten Nachbarschaft.
Mitarbeiterin
The Tenants'
• vor Ort
Council NKZ&was
Hausmeister:
founded Es ingibt
2016seittodiesem
preventJahrthe
wieder eine Mitarbeiterin
threatened takeover by a well-
known sowie einen(Padovicz).
investor Hausmeister, die vor
From the Ort,
verykompetent,
beginning,ansprechbar
the Tenants' und nur fürhas
Council dasbeen
Objektcommitted to
zuständig sind. Das war eine zentrale Forderung der Mieter*innen, die nicht von einer
self-administration and municipalisation. A large part of the tenants participated very actively in
anonymen
the protests Hotline
against theverwaltet
intendedwerden möchten.
sale. With the support of our neighbours from Kotti & Co, other
urban initiatives and politicians, the NKZ was finally sold to the state-owned housing company
Re-Kommunalisierung Plus. Modellprojekt am Kottbusser Tor
GEWOBAG in April 2017. http://mieterratnkz.de
Gemeinsam mit unseren Nachbar*innen vom südlichen
Kottbusser Tor sind wir Teil des im Koalitionsvertrag des rot-rot-
Self-organisation
grünen Senats verankerten „Modellprojekt Kottbusser Tor“. Der
The verpflichtet
Senat Tenants' Council
sich darinNKZ is the
darauf, diedemocratically
Selbstverwaltung elected
der
representation of the interests of residential
Mieter*innen am Kottbusser Tor zu stärken und zu unterstützen. and
commercial tenants in the New Kreuzberg Centre.
Dies geht zurück auf die jahrelange Vorarbeit des unter anderem It is
recognised
von Kotti & Coby the housing
initiierten association
Projekts as a self-organised
Re-Kommunalisierung Plus.
tenants' council.
Grundlegendes The
Ziel ist Tenants'
dabei – nebenCouncil is elected every
der Re-Kommunalisierung
three
der yearsdes
Bestände by Sozialen
the tenants. All tenants– can
Wohnungsbaus run for
in dieser office
mehrfach
and vote themselves.
marginalisierten Six representatives
Nachbarschaft are elected zu
den sozialen Zusammenhalt for
the flats
fördern, and two for
umfassende the businesses.
Beteiligung zu ermöglichen, die Zugänge
dafür zu schaffen und die Mieter*innen zu empowern. Als Teil
des „Modellprojekts
The Tenants' CouncilKottbusser Tor“ soll
meets every diese Arbeit
fortnight nicht nur
to discuss important issues in the NKZ. There is also a
nachhaltige und tragfähige Strukturen vor Ort schaffen, sondern
biweekly meeting with the new GEWOBAG employee on site to work together on the issues in the
auch übertragbar
building. The NKZseinTenants'
auf andere Großsiedlungen
Council works in und
a grassroots democratic manner - through working
Mieter*innenvertretungen stadtweit. https://kottbussertor.org
groups that are open to all tenants. The tenants can initiate their own working group on a specific
topic at any time. This is intended to give all tenants access to participation at the lowest possible
Kommunal und selbstverwaltet wohnen – Mieter*innen für die Demokratisierung der
level. http://mieterratnkz.de
Wohnraumversorgung
Um die Forderungen nach Selbstverwaltung zu stärken und den Prozess der Demokratisierung der
Cooperation agreement
Wohnraumversorgung, der durch den Mietenvolksentscheid 2016 angestoßen wurde,
Since we wanted
fortzuführen, hat sichtodermaintain
Mieterratour
NKZdemand for self-administration
mit anderen Initiativen (u.a. Stadt- von
andUnten,
aboveKotti
all to& protect
Co), our
local businesses,und
Vorkaufshäusern- which, unlikesowie
siedlungen flat tenants, are scarcelyHäusern
selbstorganisierten protected under66,
(Wrangel tenancy lawAllee,
Karl-Marx - we, as the
Tenants'
sog. Council,
Pachthäuser began besetzte
– ehemals negotiations oninour
Häuser own cooperation
kommunalem agreement
Besitz uvm.) zu einemwith GEWOBAG after
stadtweiten
the municipalisation.
Bündnis zusammengetan. This was negotiated in a long, demanding participatory process under the
moderation
Das of the Senate
Bündnis „kommunal Department forwohnen“
und selbstverwaltet Urban Development and Housing
(kusWo), verhandelt mit denand
LWUa first version was
derzeit
signed
über in October 2018
ein Stufenmodell in the presencebei
der Mitbestimmung, of dem
Senator (state secretary of housing)
die Mieter*innenvertretungen auf Katrin Lompscher.
Haus- und
The cooperation
Siedlungsebene selbstagreement
bestimmenregulates the cooperation
können, welchen between
Grad und Umfang vonthe Tenants' Council
Mitbestimmung bis hinand the
zur Selbstverwaltung
housing company.sie Ininthe
dencooperation
unterschiedlichen
fieldsBereichen des Wohnens
of maintenance wünschen. Es security
& investments, geht & living
dabei um die Erweiterung von Basismieter*innenrechten in Richtung einer zeitgemäßen
environment, neighbourhoods, letting policy and commercial development, decisions are to be
Mieter*innenmitbestimmung
made by consensus between aufthe
Augenhöhe.
Tenants'https://kommunal-selbstverwaltet-wohnen.de
Council and GEWOBAG. This cooperation at eye level is
currently being tested in practice. In a next step, the cooperation agreement is to be concluded as
a model for extended tenant participation in the state-owned housing companies (LWUs).Examples of how the cooperation agreement is being brought to life and initial successes of the
cooperation:
! The self-organised neighbourhood room NKZ: The room is managed by the neighbours
themselves and is provided free of charge by GEWOBAG.
! "Kuppel" letting: joint invitation to tender for a 900 sqm commercial space according to the
criteria of the neighbourhood.
! Playground "from below": participatory planning of the long closed play and meeting room
in the NKZ with the entire neighbourhood.
! On-site staff & caretaker: As of this year, there is once again a staff member and a caretaker
who are on site, competent, approachable and only responsible for the property. This was a
central demand of the tenants who did not want to be managed by an anonymous hotline.
Re-communalisation Plus. Model project at Kottbusser Tor
Together with our neighbours from the southern Kottbusser Tor, we are part of the 'Model Project
Kottbusser Tor' anchored in the coalition agreement of the red-red-green senate (government of
the Federal State of Berlin). The state government committed itself to strengthening and
supporting the self-administration of the tenants at Kottbusser Tor. This can be traced back to
years of preparatory work for the Re-communalisation Plus project initiated by Kotti & Co. The
basic aim is - in addition to the re-municipalisation of the social housing stock - to promote social
cohesion in this multiply marginalised neighbourhood, to enable comprehensive and meaningful
participation, to improve access to participation spaces and to empower the tenants.
As part of the "Kottbusser Tor model project", this work not only intends to create sustainable and
workable structures on site, but also to be transferable to other large housing estates and tenant
representative offices citywide.
https://kottbussertor.org
Municipal and self-governed housing. Tenants for the democratisation of housing provision
In order to strengthen the demands for self-administration and to continue the process of
democratising the provision of housing, which was initiated by the Rent People's Decision 2016,
the NKZ Tenants' Council has joined forces with other initiatives (including Stadt von Unten – City
from Below, Kotti & Co), pre-purchase houses and housing estates as well as self-organised houses
(Wrangel 66, Karl-Marx Allee, so-called leasehold houses - formerly occupied houses in municipal
ownership, etc.) to form a city-wide alliance.
The alliance "kommunal und selbstverwaltet wohnen" (kusWo – living in municipal and self-
governed houses), is currently negotiating with the LWU (state owned housing companies) on a
step-by-step model of co-decision making in which tenants' representatives at house and
settlement level can decide for themselves the degree and scope of co-decision making up to self-
administration they wish in the various areas of housing. The aim is to extend basic tenant rights
towards a modern tenant co-administration on equal terms.
https://kommunal-selbstverwaltet-wohnen.de9. City from Below – self-governed & communal, Berlin
9. Stadt von unten, Berlin
Who we are
Wer wir sind
City from Below (Stadt von Unten) is an affinity-based political group made up
Stadt von
of urban activists andunten ist einewho
neighbours aufmobilise
Affinität for
basierende politische
the affordability ofGruppe,
housing
die sich aus städtischen Aktivisten und Nachbarn zusammensetzt,
in a city that has seen a sharp rise in rent prices over the past few years.
die sich für die Bezahlbarkeit von Wohnraum in einer Stadt
City from Below was formed
mobilisieren, die ininden
early 2014 Jahren
letzten with the objective
einen starkenofAnstieg
promoting a model project
der Mietpreise erlebtcalled
hat.
"Self-governed & communal" (in German, the word "kommunal" means both „communal“ and
„municipal“,Stadtandvon unten
both bildeteare
meanings sichintended).
Anfang 2014 Thismit dem Ziel,
model ein Modellprojekt
project aims to come mit up dem
with Namen
new
"Selbstverwaltet & kommunal" (das Wort "kommunal" bedeutet auf
institutional arrangements that combine the democratic structures of self-governance with the Deutsch sowohl
wide reach"gemeinschaftlich"
of public housingals– auch and "städtisch", und beide
thereby overcome theBedeutungen
limitations sind beabsichtigt)
of both: Making zu fördern. Mit
self-
governancediesem Modellprojekt
and meaningful sollen neue
participation in institutionelle
decision-making Arrangements
available toentwickelt werden, welche
broader segments of die
demokratischen
tenants, beyond Strukturen der Selbstverwaltung
a middle-class-dominated, mit der
social-capital-centred großen Reichweite
self-governed housingdes sozialen
scene and
Wohnungsbaus verbinden - und damit die Grenzen beider Begriffe überwinden:
(re-)claiming public housing institutions that to this day resist calls for democratisation and, in Selbstverwaltung
und sinnvolleand
times of neoliberalism Mitbestimmung für breitere
profit-maximising, supply Mietersegmente
mostly unaffordablejenseits einer mittelklassig
municipal housing. We
dominierten, sozialkapitalzentrierten, selbstverwalteten Wohnungsszene
want the better parts of both worlds: Affordable (public) housing, but also self-governance and verfügbar zu machen
und öffentliche Wohnungseinrichtungen
participation in decision-making for tenants. (wieder) zu beanspruchen, die sich bis heute den
Forderungen nach Demokratisierung widersetzen und in Zeiten des Neoliberalismus und der
Gewinnmaximierung meist unbezahlbaren kommunalen Wohnraum bereitstellen. Wir wollen die
The model besseren
project is Teile
basedbeider Welten:
on a set bezahlbaren
of 100% demands:(öffentlichen) Wohnraum, aber auch Selbstverwaltung
• 100% und Teilhabe
rental der Mieter
apartments, an Entscheidungen.
no private ownership
• 100% real affordability (which we define as affordable for recipients of social welfare)
Das Modellprojekt basiert auf einer Reihe von 100% Forderungen:
• 100% long term (in Germany, social housing and its affordability is usually only regulated
! 100%
for adebates
limited Mietwohnungen,
period of time) kein Privateigentum
New on urban land
! 100% reale Bezahlbarkeit (was wir als bezahlbar für Empfänger von Sozialhilfe definieren)
• 100% participation (different from cooperatives, no need to bring in private capital).
! 100% langfristig (in Deutschland ist der soziale Wohnungsbau und seine Bezahlbarkeit in der
Urban
• land = public land, not for sale
Regel nur für einen begrenzten Zeitraum geregelt)
! 100%ige Beteiligung (anders als bei Genossenschaften, keine Notwendigkeit, privates Kapital
einzubringen).
Was wir machen
Unsere Arbeit konzentriert sich auf ein 4,7 ha großes Gebiet in Berlin-Kreuzberg, das als
"Dragonerareal" bezeichnet wird. Der Name geht auf seinen militärischen Hintergrund als
Kasernengelände aus dem 19. Jahrhundert zurück. Während auf dem Gelände seit Jahren und
Jahrzehnten eine Reihe von Kleinbetrieben existiert, ist es eines der letzten innerstädtischen
Areale in Berlin, das noch für den Wohnungsbau erschlossen werden muss.
Zu dem Zeitpunkt, als wir Anfang 2014 mit unserer Arbeit begannen, befand sich das Areal in
öffentlichem Eigentum, Eigentum des Bundes. Bereits 2004 hatte sich die damalige SPD-geführte
Regierung für eine Sparpolitik entschieden, bei der alle Grundstücke im Bundesbesitz an den
Meistbietenden verkauft wurden. Im Sommer 2014 wurde der höchstbietende Wettbewerb für
den Verkauf des Grundstücks ausgeschrieben. Um unser Modellprojekt überhaupt realisierbar zu
machen, mussten wir die Privatisierung des Gebietes verhindern.
Our work focusses on a 4.7 ha area in Berlin-Kreuzberg, referred to as „Dragonerareal“. The name
Zu diesem Zweck haben wir: Petare, Caracas
dates back to its 19th-century military background as a barracks area. While a number of small
businesses have eine Vielzahl
! existed on thepolitischer Taktiken
site for years verfolgt,itvon
and decades, Advocacy-Arbeit
is one auf verschiedenen
of the last inner-city sites in
politischen Ebenen
Berlin still to be developed for housing.bis zur vorübergehenden Hausbesetzung, von Demonstrationen bis zur
Berlin - Rathausblock
Organisation mit den Nachbarn und den auf dem Grundstück ansässigen Kleinunternehmern
(meist kleine Autowerkstätten)At the time we began our work in early 2014, the area was publically owned, property of the
Federal government of Germany. Back in 2004, the SPD-led government at the time had opted for
an austerity-driven policy of selling off all federally owned land to the highest-bidding contender.
In summer 2014 the highest-bidding contest was launched to sell the property. In order to make
our model project feasible at all, we had to prevent privatisation of the area. To that end we:
• engaged in a wide variety of political tactics, from advocacy work at different political
levels to temporary squatting, from demonstrations to organising with the neighbours and
the small business owners located on the plot (mostly small car workshops)
• thereby created a lot of media attention and public pressure on elected officials
• we took part in the bidding contest, offering one (gigantic) Euro and a social development
vision for the area
• delegitimised the narrative of austerity-driven urbanism by offering a counter-narrative of
the need for real affordable housing, especially in the inner city area
• delegitimised the highest bidder and exposed his organisational structure as a stock
company, listed in Switzerland, his former engagement in speculative investments in the
USA and Czech Republic (quite like Switzerland, a tax haven for real estate investment)
• made sure our protest was scaled up as much as possible, e.g. by with other tenant protest
groups or with other issues and by linking the challenges we were facing with broader
claims, such as putting an end to all privatisation of public land
A key success as well as a necessary prerequisite for our model project was the first-ever „No!“ by
the majority of Finance Ministers meeting in the Federal Council, rejecting the sell-off of public
property in the case of the Dragonerareal in 2015. This vote opposed the decision of Federal
Minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schäuble, to privatise the site. It took until end of 2016 for the
Ministry of Finance and the administration to finally accept this vote and offer the land to the
state of Berlin (Berlin is one of the 16 states of Germany, its districts are municipalities). The
Dragonerareal was transferred to the city of Berlin at the end of 2018.
Fighting successfully to prevent the privatisation of the Dragonerareal site has laid the groundwork
for our model project. The city of Berlin has a strong interest in creating housing space, but not
(yet) in alignment with our claims. It is evident that we do not need just any sort of new build, but
housing that is actually fully affordable – 100% - to even begin putting a brake on gentrification,
displacement of tenants and small business, and rent prices spiralling out of control.
To further promote the model project and our demands, Stadt von Unten activities include:
• working to delegitimise the discourse of "social mixing", which is frequently used to
invalidate calls for 100% affordable housing,
• physically and symbolically using and appropriating the site for reunions and gatherings,
festivals, urban gardening…
• engaging in a planning process from below and in opposition to the official participatory
process
• running „Plangarage“ (borrowing from Hamburg‘s Planbude) – a workshop/event venue in
one of the garages on the site to hold meetings and events, organise with the
neighbourhood and groups that are interested in taking part in the model project
• organising a collective learning process on the political set-up and the institutional
arrangement of the model project
City from Below is part of the wider tenant and Right to the City movement in Berlin and of a
global movement against neoliberal and austerity-driven urbanism.
https://stadtvonunten.de10. Kotti & Co. tenants' association, Berlin
Who we are
We are the tenants' association 10. Mietergemeinschaft
Kotti & Co. We haveKotti & Co., Berlin
founded ourselves in
2011 at the southern KottbusserWerTor to protest against the rising rents in
sind wir?
Wir sind die Mietergemeinschaft Kotti & Co. Wir haben uns 2011 am
social housing. Since then we have been fighting against high rents and
südlichen Kottbusser Tor gegründet, um gegen die steigenden Mieten
displacement - but also againstim stressful experiences
Sozialen Wohnungsbau at Seitdem
zu protestieren. the kämpfen
job centre,
wir
gegen hohe Mieten und Verdrängung – aber auch gegen Stress beim
gentrification, racism and for a liveable KottbusserRassismus
Jobcenter, Gentrifizierung, Tor for all.einThe
und für stories of
lebenswertes
migration, solidarity and neighbourly support are the core of our self-image.und
Kottbusser Tor für alle. Die Geschichten der Migration, Solidarität
nachbarschaftliche Unterstützung sind der Kern unseres Selbstverständnisses.
Since May 2012 our protest house against high rents and against displacement, the Geçekondu
Seit Mai 2012 steht unser Protest-Haus gegen hohe Mieten und gegen Verdrängung, das
(Turkish for: 'built over night'), has been standing
Gecekondu*, am Kottbusserat TorKottbusser TorMitindemBerlin-Kreuzberg.
in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Gecekondu haben wir 2012Withden the
Platz vor unseren Häusern besetzt, um unseren Protest dauerhaft öffentlich sichtbar zu machen.
Geçekondu we have occupied the Das square
Gecekondu in
stehtfront of eine
dafür, dass ourNachbarschaft
houses wie in diese
2012 in order
sich gegen to Politik
eine falsche make our
protest permanently visible to the public. The Geçekondu stands for the fact that a neighbourhood
organisieren kann und dass wir mit Hartnäckigkeit Veränderungen durchsetzen können.
like this can organise itself against a wrong
Wir kämpfen policy
für das Recht aufand
Stadt that
für alle!we can push through changes with
persistence. Ein Recht auf Stadt für Alle heißt für uns, dass die Mieten am Kottbusser Tor und in ganz Berlin
soweit sinken, dass wir sie uns alle leisten können und dass niemand wegziehen muss. Wir wollen
dass der Wohnungsmarkt radikal sozial gestaltet wird. Wir wollen, dass niemand Angst haben
muss die Wohnung zu verlieren und dass die Mieten nicht mehr unser sowieso schon kleines
We fight for the right to a city forEinkommen
all! auffressen. Es geht uns um eine soziale Wohnraumversorgung für die Gegenwart und
für die Zukunft. Wir wollen, dass die Häuser, die vormals der GSW und heute der „Deutsche
For us, a right to a city for everyone means that rents at Kottbusser Tor and in the whole of Berlin
Wohnen“ gehören, wieder zurück an das Land Berlin gehen.
will fall so low that we can all afford them
Was haben wir and that no one will have to move away. We want the
erreicht?
Unser Protest lohnt sich: Seitdem wir unseren Protest am südlichen Kotti begonnen haben,
housing market to be radically social. We want nobody to be afraid of losing their home and we
können die Kaltmieten nicht mehr jedes Jahr weiter erhöht werden. Das gilt insgesamt für etwa
want rents to stop eating up our already small income.
35.000 Sozialwohnungen We und
in ganz Berlin want social
seit 2016 sogarhousing forBerliner
für alle 110.000 the present and
Sozialwohnungen. Wer mehr als etwa ein Drittel seines Einkommens für die Miete zahlen muss,
for the future. We want the houses that einen
kann inzwischen formerly belonged
Mietzuschuss to wirGSW
beantragen, den erkämpft and now
haben. tohinaus
Darüber 'Deutsche
haben
Wohnen' to be returned to the Land of Berlin.
wir einige Zwangsräumungen im Kiez verhindert, und gemeinsam mit unseren Anwält*innen
vielen Nachbar*innen dabei geholfen, sich juristisch gegen die „Deutsche Wohnen“ und andere
Vermieter*innen zu wehren. Da die „Deutsche Wohnen“ nicht nur bei uns am Kotti ein Problem
darstellt, haben wir 2018 mit vielen anderen zusammen einen neuen Volksentscheid auf den Weg
What have we achieved? gebracht mit dem Ziel, die „Deutsche Wohnen“ zu enteignen. Und egal wie dieser Kampf um
Enteignen ausgeht, den Druck auf die „Deutsche Wohnen“ und die Politik haben wir heute schon
Our protest is worthwhile: Since deutlich
we started our
erhöht. Und ohneprotest
Druck – das at the
wissen wir southern Kotti, the rents can
no
– passiert gar nichts.
longer be increased every year. Informationen,
This applies to a total
weiterführende links of around 35,000 social housing units
Webseite: www.kottico.net
throughout Berlin and, since 2016,Facebook
evenSeite:
to all 110,000 Berlin social housing units. Those who have
facebook.com/kottiundco
to pay more than about one thirdUnser
of their income
Fotoalbum: for rent can now apply for a rent subsidy, which
www.flickr.com/photos/kottiundco/
Der Film zu Kotti & Co: https://youtu.be/1Ee5sOgmjI0
we have fought for. Furthermore, weSozialen
Infos zum prevented
Wohnungsbau some evictions in the neighbourhood and
Berlin: www.nichts-laeuft-hier-richtig.de
together with our lawyers we helped many neighbours to defend themselves legally against
Das Buch zu Kotti & Co: www.kottiundco.net/buch/
Englischsprachiger Film zu Kotti https://youtu.be/sCVwhKbExcU
'Deutsche Wohnen' and other landlords. Since 'Deutsche Wohnen' is not only a problem for us at
the Kotti, we and many others initiated a new referendum in 2018 with the aim of expropriating
'Deutsche Wohnen'. And no matter how this struggle for expropriation turns out, we have already
increased the pressure on 'Deutsche Wohnen' and the politicians. And without pressure - we know
that - nothing happens.
Further information
Webpage: www.kottico.net
Facebook page: facebook.com/kottiundco
Twitter: @KottiU
Our photo documentation: www.flickr.com/photos/kottiundco/
The movie to Kotti & Co: https://youtu.be/1Ee5sOgmjI0
Information on Social Housing in Berlin: www.nichts-laeuft-hier-richtig.de
The book to Kotti & Co: www.kottiundco.net/buch/
www.kottbussertor.orgYou can also read
