U.S.: Occupy Targets Foreclosures

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Judith Scherr   People march through West Oakland to the foreclosed home now owned by Fannie Mae that will be occupied as a community centre. Credit:Judith Scherr/IPS Buy this picture OAKLAND, California, Dec 7, 2011 (IPS) – Five months ago, Gayla Newsome was at work when she [...]

ARGENTINA: Needs Outstrip Efforts to Build Affordable Housing

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Aug 12, 2011 (IPS) – The Argentine economy has grown steadily since 2003, and hundreds of thousands of social housing units have been built. Nevertheless, the protests and conflicts that periodically break out make it clear that the solutions have failed to keep [...]

BRAZIL: More Community Input Needed in Relocation of Favelas

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Clarinha Glock * PORTO ALEGRE, Jul 5, 2011 (Tierramérica) – José Luiz Ferreira, 60, was born poor and is still poor, but was able to get an education. Known as Seu Luiz (Mr. Luiz) in Vila Nova Chocolatão, the Porto Alegre neighborhood where he lives, he earns [...]

Real Estate Boom as Displaced Pakistanis Seek Housing

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Ashfaq Yusufzai PESHAWAR, Jun 25, 2011 (IPS) – Real estate prices have shot up in areas adjacent to the tribal districts of northwest Pakistan where violence continues to displace local residents. The prices of homes as well as rentals have risen as families from some parts of [...]

VENEZUELA: Ambitious Promises of Affordable Housing

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Humberto Márquez CARACAS, Jun 23, 2011 (IPS) – "I want my own roof over my head, my own home. I don’t want to live in a curtained-off cubicle surrounded by masses of people," says Elena Díaz, who does ironing for a living and lives in a temporary [...]

Foreclosure Mess Reveals Longstanding Problems

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Matthew Cardinale ATLANTA, Georgia, Oct 31, 2010 (IPS) – The discovery of apparent massive fraud in mortgage and foreclosure documents has called into question millions of pending foreclosures in the U.S. Several banks have enacted partial or complete moratoriums until the issues can be resolved. Yet activists [...]

SOUTH AFRICA: Neglected Johannesburg Neighbourhood Rises Again

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Chris Stein JOHANNESBURG, Oct 29, 2010 (IPS) – A month after property developer Alex Montwedi bought a 42-unit high-rise apartment building in Johannesburg’s Berea neighbourhood, he found himself chased out of the building by his own tenants. Though he held the deed to the building, a group [...]

BRAZIL: Eviction from Rio’s Slums Echoes Dark Past

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Fabiana Frayssinet* – Tierramérica RIO DE JANEIRO, May 11  (IPS)  – The longstanding debate between eviction or upgrading of Rio’s ”favelas” or slums has gathered new force as this one-time capital of Brazil still shows the hillside scars left by rain-induced landslides in early April. Controversy surrounds the [...]

RIGHTS: U.S. Criticised over Soaring Housing Costs

Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Armin Rosen UNITED NATIONS, Mar 5  (IPS)  – On Friday, the richest and most powerful country on earth was the subject of a damning report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. The United States rarely finds itself brought before HRC, and issues of U.S. domestic policy [...]

MIDEAST: The ‘Unknown’ Fight the Illegal

Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM, Nov 8 (IPS) – "Make sure your father gets this," the municipal inspector tells a ten-year-old boy at the gate of the concrete house in an alleyway in the Al-Bustan quarter of Silwan, a Palestinian neighbourhood right under the shadow [...]