How landlords can create safe spaces | Ash Holwell | TEDxWellington

20 May 2024 (6 months ago)

Squatting and the Housing Crisis

The speaker shares their experience of squatting in the Netherlands, where it was legal if a building was unoccupied for over a year.
They discuss the housing crisis and argue that current laws prioritize private property over sharing and empowerment and need to be revised.

The speaker describes three experiments they conducted to demonstrate the power of safe and shared spaces:
- Transforming an empty warehouse into a community space.
- Occupying an unused church and turning it into a vibrant community hub.
- Purchasing an office building, reusing materials, and sharing resources with the community.

The world is experiencing a construction boom, with plans to double the building stock by 2060.
Buildings contribute significantly to carbon emissions, and the current approach to sustainable building is insufficient.
The speaker proposes a radical solution: sharing spaces and resources to reduce the need for new construction.

257 is a shared office space in Wellington, New Zealand, that serves multiple functions and has been used by almost 600 organizations and companies.
By sharing spaces, we can effectively double the size of our cities without building anything new.
257 operates a system of property sharing, where for every hour someone pays to use the space, $1 worth of free or discounted space is given to organizations in need.
This model could be replicated by landlords across New Zealand, potentially generating $9.6 billion worth of discounted or free rent per year and alleviating the housing crisis.

Safe spaces are essential for those doing critical work for social and environmental justice, as they allow these individuals to become "dangerous" to oppressive systems.
Sharing spaces and resources is a powerful tool for empowerment and can help create a safer and more just world for everyone.