Push
Push investigates why we can’t afford to live in our cities anymore. Who are the players and what are the factors that make housing one of today’s most pressing world issues?
Gentrification is a fatal phenomenon affecting many cities, transforming low-class neighbourhoods into highly desirable districts, gradually driving house prices up and the original inhabitants out. Are the new wealthy occupants to blame for the price hikes, or is something else going on?
Filmmaker Fredrik Gertten follows the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing as she investigates the shrouded world of venture capitalists, property speculators and slumlords. She visits major cities in Great Britain, Spain, Chile and South Korea to see how such a variety of locations are beset with pretty much identical problems: tenants facing a tripling of their rent while luxury homes – or even entire developments – are left vacant on purpose.
Can anything be done to push back on this ‘property Mafia’? Committed citizens living on different continents point out that a city centre is more than just a desirable location. They’re fighting for better regulations in the hope of turning the tide. Perhaps all that’s needed is a push in the right direction.
Together with Jeroen Moes, we shed light on the effects of gentrification in Maastricht. Jeroen Moes, PhD, has an educational training in Sociology, Anthropology and Political Science. He lectures Research Methods at University College Maastricht. In his introduction, Moes will sketch a brief history of urban renewal in Maastricht and the first exploratory results of gentrification research in Maastricht. How do residents of Mariaberg and Wittevrouwenveld experience the urban renewal?
Program
19:30 introduction Jeroen Moes (language: English)
20:00 start documentary PUSH