Debate: Will we all end up in slums?


Tuesday 14th May | 8:00 p.m. | Kinoteka 1
Debate: Will we all end up in slums?  after the screening of "Push” by Fredrik Gertten
In Polish only
Partners: Krytyka Polityczna magazine, University of Warsaw – Faculty of Economic Science

Apartment prices are skyrocketing in many cities despite the warnings of financial analysts. This phenomenon threatens the nation’s financial stability and may lead to a crash, while also depriving the citizens of their fundamental right to fair housing (i.e. costing no more than 30% of their income). Our debate aims to find the root causes and possible ways of counteracting this situation. We’re going to discuss what sustainability means in the context of cities; can housing co-ops, cohousing, and other housing models serve as solutions to this problem? How can these ideas be reconciled with the reality of the market economy?

Moderator:
Karolina Safarzyńska, PhD – lecturer at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Economic Sciences. Her research focuses on transitions toward sustainability. Having obtained her PhD at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Safarzyńska was a research fellow at a number of scientific institutions including the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Oxford INET, and the Santa Fe Institute, as well as an intern at the UN, WTO, and World Bank.

Guests:
Beata Siemieniako – lawyer and activist, graduate of the University of Warsaw’s law department, College of Inter-area Individual Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and Cardiff Law School. In 2014 Siemieniako started providing free legal advice at the Committee for the Defense of Tenants’ Rights and organizing training sessions. She is a trainee attorney and co-founder of the Human Rights Section of the Warsaw Bar Association. Author of Reprywatyzując Polskę [Reprivatizing Poland].

Agata Twardoch, Doctor of Engineering – architect and urban planner, adjunct at the Silesian University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture. With a focus on accessible housing construction and alternative housing, Twardoch is a researcher, science promoter, and workshop host as well as an architectural and interior designer.