DEBATE

Excellent location, quiet neighbourhood, good access.

The challenges of modern housing

debate: 16.04.2015 | 20:30, Cinema New Horizons | After the movie: „Speculation Nation”

What are the biggest challenges connected with a collective housing? In the past, European cities faced a situation where a population increase triggered a sudden need for collective housig building. While the developers continue building more and more house nowadays, the birthrate in European countries remains low. Many countries are dealing with the consequences of the global financial crisis, which also affects the housing industry condition. Spain may serve as an extreme example. Here the economic crisis caused a housing market collapse. Banks have taken over hundreds of thousands of homes purchased on credit, and at the moment the number of vacant houses in the country has reached almost 3.5 million. What is the situation in Poland? How large is in our need to seek alternatives to mortgages?

 

Moderator:
PRZEMYSŁAW CHIMCZAK (Warsaw) – BLOKBLOG

Panelists:
 IWONA BOROWIK (Wroclaw) – an urban sociologist and a lecturer at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Wrocław. The author of several scientific publications, i.e. „Blokowiska – miejski habitat w oglądzie socjologicznym. Studium jakości wrocławskich środowisk mieszkaniowych” (2003), „W poszukiwaniu ideału zamieszkiwania – o utopiach urbanistyczno-społecznych z mitem idealnego miasta w tle” (2010)
 KIRA BOUAOUD (Leipzig / Germany) – a resident and a co-owner of a Hausprojekte in Leipzig
 DAWID CIEŚLIK (Wroclaw) – an architect at the Faculty of Architecture at Wroclaw University of Technology where he teaches a cohousing course. He is a social activistco-operating with many NGOs. He is also running his own design studio – the only one in Poland which includes cohousing in the offer.
 LECH FILIPIAK (Wroclaw) – the director of the Department of Real Estate Management at The Municipal Office of Wrocław

A new type of gentry.

The gentrification of cities and districts

debate: 18.04.2015 | 21:30, Cinema New Horizons | After the movie: „My Brooklyn”

Half a century ago, the term “gentrification” was used to refer to the changes affecting one district in London. Today, it constitutes one of the most important processes taking place in major cities around the world. The phenomenon entails a transformation of one district or part of the city to serve people of a higher social status. A widely discussed example of a modern gentrification is, for example, a socio-economic transformation of Brooklyn. In recent years, dynamic changes have also been affecting more and more areas of Berlin. The upzoning of the districts makes them, however, more exclusive and less available to the public.

Political transformations affecting Poland have brought about gentrification to our homeland. The process may be observed in Kazimierz – a historical district of Krakow, Praga in Warsaw or Srodka neighbourhood in Poznan. What does the gentrification look like in Wroclaw?
Is it inevitable? What are its origins? What benefits and what risks does this process generate. We are going to raise these topics during the debate with the participation of experts in various fields.

Moderator:
Michał Syska (Wroclaw) – a lawyer, publicist and social and political activist. He is a director of the Ferdinand Lassalle Centre for Social Thought in Wroclaw.

Panelists:
 DOROTA GROYECKA (Warsaw) – the author of “Gentryfikacja Berlina. Od życia na podsłuchu do kultury cafe latte.”
 PAWEŁ KUBICKI (Krakow) – an urban sociologist at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
 BARBARA KWAŚNY (Wroclaw) – a PhD student of Culture Studies at the University of Wroclaw
 PAWEŁ RUDNICKI (Wroclaw) – an educator, political scientist and lecturer at the Faculty of Educational Science at the University of Lower Silesia