Monday, January 30, 2006

Condos for Christiania

Copenhagen authorities plan condos for the city's notorious squatter enclave. The Copenhagen Post reports.

Hidden in the article: Squatters in the 'hood will be facing rent increases of at least 1,000 percent.

No, that's no misprint.

2 comments:

rn said...

RN: You seem angry, but perhaps you're blaming the wrong people. These folks put their sweat into the buildings, taking over decaying structures and turning them into decent, workable homes (at least, this is what I've read of Christiania's history--and I haven't seen it debunked anywhere), I see no reason why they should now be forced to pay for the privilege of having done all that work. A 1,000 percent rent increase is harsh no matter what the base rent is. I know this: paying $365 a month more would be tough for me.

Perhaps we can agree that the rents should pay the costs of operating the buildings. But then we'd have to know exactly what those costs are.

As for where you can sign up: well, if you went to Christiania and were willing to work for the benefit of your building and the community, my guess is people there would accept you. It may not be too late.

adam said...

Hello, interesting blog you have here... So I google searched for christinania and off courdse there was lots. I would just like to straighten out a misunderstanding here:

The monthly fee that all grown up residents of Christiania pays is ca. 1000 DKr, not 250. This is regardless wether you live in a shed full of kids or alone in a large studio apartment. It's per person.

It should also be noted that while this is still cheap, many houses there are missing direct acces to sewage, warm water and electricity.