Living in Germany Illustration: Tobias Schrank © Goethe-Institut How do we want to live? In view of skyrocketing rents and property prices in cities worldwide, this is not so easy to answer. Ideas from the past, present and for the future help with solutions. © David Klammer 50 years of Auroville A city without property, money and government A ‘human laboratory’ – this was what the township of Auroville, founded 50 years ago, was supposed to be: basic income for all, no hierarchies, all decisions based on consensus. Frederick Schulze-Buxloh has been there from the very start. Photo (detail): © picture alliance / dpa / Jens Wolf House beautiful Ten creative living spaces, made in Germany A different way to live: unconventional and whimsical ideas from Germany. © Natalie Mayroth Tradition versus progress How Mumbai's fishing community Chimbai has retained the charm of a village Chimbai, a Koli settlement in the heart of the Indian city of Mumbai, is over 400 years old. Even though the settlement has long become a part of the megacity, it has retained the charm of a village. Hindus and Christians live side by side, not far from the villas in Pali Hill or Andheri that belong to Bollywood stars. A walk though the old fishing village. Photo (detail): © Pierre-Yves Brunaud Ecological Housing Green Building to Save the Planet The building sector accounts for roughly one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. New energy-efficient and environmentally sound construction and renovation methods are finally catching on in France. © Marine Leduc & Constance Bénard Urban planning After the Wall: Berlin’s Urban Planning Dilemma Modern-day development projects vs. trailer parks and teepees: where the Wall once divided Berlin in half, the city's housing culture is now torn between memory and modernity, nostalgia and progress. Photo (detail): © Paul-Ruben Mundthal Living in Germany The manor house community Making a home in a mansion, living with nature – that could sum up the philosophy of the Schloss Tonndorf community in the Thuringian Forest. Around 60 people live and work together on the idyllic historical estate. © Marine Leduc & Constance Bénard Atelier and Ausbau buildings How Leipzig Is Reinventing Housing To keep Leipzig affordable for its own residents, the city promotes alternative living and working spaces. It has now become a sort of urban laboratory experimenting with new and unusual models of collective, cooperative and solidarity-based housing. © Colourbox / Andrii Stepaniuk Local housing project Brick by Brick Investing in the community Displacement due to rising housing prices has long been a major problem in Canada. The Montreal project Brick by Brick tries to counteract this. We spoke to the Managing Director of the project, Faiz Abhuani. Rent or buy? © Goethe-Institut e. V., Internet-Redaktion Explanatory video Germany – Nation of tenants Germans prefer to rent rather than buy a flat. Our video explains why. Photo (detail): © Adobe Germany’s housing market “The rent control law rarely works” The German rent control law known as the “Mietpreisbremse” or literally the “rent brake” was designed to slow rising housing costs, but has not really solved the problem. In an interview, economic researcher Claus Michelsen talks about some other approaches that might rein in soaring rents. Photo (detail): © Adobe Berlin’s housing market Airbnb – a Blessing or a Curse? Is the online Airbnb flat sharing platform making Berlin’s housing shortage worse? Three students analysed the data to help answer this question. And reached some surprising conclusions. Living differently Max Pixel | Creative Commons Zero - CC0 Life as a digital nomad When the world is the better office Working on a train in India, video conferencing on Skype from a beach in Thailand, enjoying an after-work apéritif in a new city every week – digital nomads make the most of the new technologies to see the world, earning their daily bread as they go. © Bauhaus Campus Berlin An interview with Van Bo Le-Mentzel The Trojan horses of systemic change Van Bo Le-Mentzel is an unconventional thinker. The architect became known for his simple and inexpensive self-assembly instructions for Hartz4 wooden furniture. Then he extended the idea of democratic design to dwellings, developing living accommodations on bicycle trailers and tiny houses on wheels. Photo (detail): © picture-alliance/dpa/Joachim Litzenberger - PA: 29407300 Squatters Civil unrest in Germany Affordable housing has become scarce in many German cities, where skyrocketing rents are displacing low-income residents to the outskirts. The problem is by no means new though: In the 1970s and 1980s, people in Germany waged fierce battles against investors, building by contested building. © Garrison McArthur Artscape and the Triangle Lofts Project Keeping the Art Life Alive Being an artist in Canada’s largest city is tougher than ever. Artscape, a Toronto-based non-profit urban development organization, is developing affordable condo spaces for artists to work and live in. Where to live? Photo (detail): © Fotolia Architecture and Integration “To stop feeling like beggars” In our interview, the sociologist Ingrid Breckner talks about how housebuilding and urban development can improve integration and how conflicts in society can be avoided. © Colourbox Homeless in Montreal “You will always find a better place to live in than a shelter” There are as many homeless people in the streets of Montreal as there are stories. A report on the situation of the weakest inhabitants of Canada's eastern metropolis. Top
