Patrik Schumacher’s Social Cleansing Plans Still Offensive A Year On!

Patrik Schumacher who seems to see himself as a cross between the fictional Howard Roark and the real life Albert Speer; he heads an architectural firm with an HQ just a short walk from Golden Lane.

Abolish social housing, scrap prescriptive planning regulations and usher in the wholesale privatisation of our streets, squares and parks. That was the message delivered by Patrik Schumacher, director of Zaha Hadid Architects, to a stunned audience of architects and developers at a conference in Berlin last week, provoking a flood of impassioned responses online – with both opponents and supporters declaring him to be “the Trump of architecture”.

The late Hadid’s work might have long been a source of astonishment, for its sci-fi forms and gravity-defying structural feats, but now she’s gone, her practice is prompting incredulity for a very different reason. The queen of the curve has been supplanted by the king of free-market libertarianism. And he’s not holding back.

In lengthy Facebook posts, peppered with capital letters and exclamation marks, Schumacher – who worked alongside Hadid from 1988 and now heads her practice – has railed against everything from state-funded art schools (“an indefensible anachronism”) to the “PC takeover” of architecture (“trying to paralyse us with bad conscience”).

Schumacher is a regular at panel discussions, if not on stage then sitting in the front row, first with his hand raised to admonish the speakers for being part of the lefty liberal conspiracy. But his hour-long keynote speech at Berlin’s World Architecture festival went further in expounding his radical worldview than he had ever yet dared.

Raging against the “social engineering” of housing design guides and the “intellectually bankrupt” idea of land use plans, he set out his Urban Policy Manifesto, which rambled from scrapping housing space standards to abolishing all forms of rent control and tenancy regulation. He welcomed London’s influx of overseas investors and defended the “buy to leave” culture, arguing that “even if these global entrepreneurs are only here for a few weeks, they throw some key parties and these are amazing multiplying events”.

His uncompromising position on social housing estates provoked particularly audible disgust. “When socially renting tenants are asked to move and offered a new place somewhere else, they are given these new houses for free,” he thundered. “What a tragedy for them.” City-centre locations should instead be used to house “the most economically potent and most productive users who serve us most effectively,” he said, concluding with the suggestion that we should build a new city on Hyde Park. “How much are you actually using it?” he asked Londoners in the audience. “We need to know what it costs us!”

Zaha Hadid’s successor: scrap art schools, privatise cities and bin social housing. The extreme views of Patrik Schumacher, who has taken over at the global firm, are causing outrage. His vision? Let the market rule – and don’t put equality before profit by Oliver Wainwright, Guardian, Thursday 24 November 2016.

Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/nov/24/zaha-hadid-successor-patrik-schumacher-art-schools-social-housing

 

Gentrify In Hell: Anti-Racist & Anti-Social Cleansing Banner!

Flagstaff, AZ — (Sunday, October 29, 2017) Under the cover of darkness, while pre-halloween revelers were meandering through the cold streets of Flagstaff, some stealthy folx scaled the tower crane above the monstrous “Hub” development and dropped a massive banner depicting a KKK figure hanging and the words, “GENTRIFY IN HELL.”

This crane has been ominously hovering over our streets for long enough, so we figured it to be the ideal space to address how white supremacy & capitalism are driving forces of gentrification. But we also want to make sure this message goes beyond the impacts of the shitty Hub project that has been forced down our throats (by unrestrained greed at Northern Arizona University (NAU) & spineless politicians). We don’t really concern ourselves with “preserving the character of Flagstaff,” because we see Flagstaff as more than a “gentrifying” process in the larger historical context of genocide, land theft, and desecration of sacred places. Colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, and hetero-patriarchy are the roots of Flagstaff and the US as a whole. We care about what’s happening to the poor, the unsheltered, the Indigenous, and other People of Color more than we do about “the character” of this little mountain settlement. While some may say this is a “criminal act,” what is truly criminal is how corporations, businesses, media outlets, and politicians/fascists, perpetuate and benefit from furthering dehumanization and the violations against poor, Indigenous, migrant, Black, and queer bodies every single day.

From the fascist attack on Maktoob to victim blaming Daily Sun articles and local ordinances that continue to dehumanize and criminalize the unsheltered community. From Snowbowl desecration of the sacred Peaks, to forced relocation on Black Mesa, to desecration of South Mountain by Loop 202, NAU, Arizona State University, & University of Arizona desecration of Mt. Graham, uranium mine desecration of Red Butte, to the ongoing Trump administration attacks on sacred indigenous lands and national monuments for the benefit of extractive industry, the intersections of these issues are intersections we must continue to fight like our lives depend on it, because they do.

Hanging from a tower crane is the only “platform” any fascist should have.

Read the original post here: https://www.rageandresist.org/2017/10/29/communique-gentrify-in-hell-banner-depicting-kkk-figure-hung-from-tower-crane-in-flagstaff/

How Development Creep Works

Protest at Lendlease Elephant & Castle showroom: “the ruins of the Heygate will come back to haunt you”

Lendlease is certainly not the only developer doing lucrative gentrification deals with city authorities. But not many manage to pull off such breathtaking schemes on opposite sides of the world at once. The Elephant & Castle (London) and Barangaroo (Sydney) developments are both textbook examples of ‘development creep’: in which an initially “public interest” project morphs over time into a private profit goldmine. Here we recap a few key features in both deals:

1) Win people over. This stage involves architects and consultants working with the local authority and carrying out public consultation, to draw up people-friendly proposals including improved public space, social housing and other amenities. Anyone objecting at this point can be made to look paranoid.

In Barangaroo: the original plan launched in 2005 featured over 50% public park including the whole shoreline, and no buildings over 92 metres.

In Elephant: the 2004 masterplan featured 1,200 “social rented” homes to replace the number on the Heygate Estate, as well as a new theatre, museum, library and secondary school.

2) Make gradual changes. Once the developer is appointed, the initial plan is changed to make more money. Changes can be introduced gradually, one ‘creeping’ step at a time. It is near impossible now to get rid of the developer.

In Barangaroo: there have been eight waves of proposed modifications, between them almost doubling the amount of saleable floorspace, dramatically reducing the public space, and adding three luxury residential towers and a skyscraper casino-hotel.

In Elephant: the actual Lendlease scheme now only has 74 social rented flats plus 500 at so-called “affordable” rents. The theatre, museum, library and school are forgotten – but there is a hipster “box park”.

3) Batter down the arguments. There are numerous ways changes can be justified, and whole teams of consultants may be employed writing lengthy reports to do so. For example, changes may be necessary for “financial viability”. Also, developers and authorities may back down on a few of the more outrageous proposals, which makes it seem like resisters have won concessions and developers are being reasonable.

In Barangaroo: Lendlease’s first big shock was proposing a skyscraper hotel built into the bay itself, against public shoreline planes. They backed down on this plan after serious opposition resistance – before introducing the even bigger casino-hotel proposal, albeit away from the shoreline.

In Elephant: the viability assessment, released after a three year legal battle, showed affordable housing cuts were based on the “need” to give Lendlease a 25% profit on the deal.

4) Get the politicians on side. But ultimately, it’s not moaning residents who make the decisions, but their elected leaders. They can even change rules or grant special exemptions if necessary.

In Barangaroo: not only planning and affordable housing policies, but regulations on gambling, smoking and late night drinking, were changed or exempted for the Lendlease scheme.

In Elephant: Southwark council’s rules on 35% affordable housing were repeatedly overidden by council bodies, including allowing zero affordable housing in the “One The Elephant” tower which made Lendlease over £70 million profit.

5) Make friends in every party. The process takes years, and political power can change hands in the meantime, so clever developers may aim to win over politicians from different sides.

In Barangaroo: Australia’s Labour Party lost the New South Wales election in 2011, ceding control to the Liberal Party. Their leader Barry O’Farrell promised a review of the development, which called for some minor amendments but left the planning approvals unchanged. Bridie Jabour, writing in The Guardian, has documented how Lendlease’s casino-mogul partner James Packer of Crown Resorts has employed NSW Labour figures Karl Bitar and Mark Arbib as lobbyists, while appointing former Liberal senator Helen Coonan to the Crown board.

In Elephant: Lendlease was first selected by a Liberal Democrat council under leader Nick Stanton and deputy leader Kim Humphreys – both of whom have since got jobs as property development consultants. Then Labour leader Peter John slammed the deal as “little more than throwing Heygate residents out of their homes and building new luxury housing which they won’t be able to afford.” Then, a few months after Labour took over in 2010, John himself signed off on the Lendlease scheme. He has since faced investigation for accepting an undeclared gift from Lendlease.

Extracted from much longer Corporate Watch article. Read the full piece here: https://corporatewatch.org/lendlease-development-creeps/

City of London Has Highest Planning Permission Success Rate in England

A news story about how easy it is to push development schemes through planning in the City of London appeared in a number of places recently. What we didn’t see anywhere was an explanation for this sorry state of affairs: although obviously the fact that this is the only borough in the UK to retain the business vote means there is a lack of democracy and residents don’t have a proper say in local matters – about 80% of councillors are elected by local firms and not by people who live in the area. If local people’s interests were taken into account developments like Taylor Wimpey’s The Denizen would not be granted planning permission. The City of London council doesn’t care about local people because overwhelmingly it isn’t local people who elect it. Here’s the more general planning ease story from News Anyway:

Government data has revealed that the London borough saw 100% of major development applications granted in 2016/2017.

The City of London has seen a huge population surge in recent years, growing 29.6% in the decade 2006 to 2016 and newly highlighted data reveals development here is just as popular.

In its recent campaign to educate investors on the planning permission process in England and Wales, commercial finance brokers Pure Commercial Finance unearthed data which reveals you’re more likely to get planning permission accepted in the City of London than almost anywhere else in England.

In the year ending 31st March 2017 there were 18 places in England where 100% of major development applications were accepted: the City, among more Northern locations such as Copeland, Wigan, and Lincoln. The historic financial district also saw the highest percentage of minor development applications granted (98.53%) last year….

…Ben Lloyd, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Pure Commercial Finance, said:

“Commercial property finance is our bread and butter and we help arrange funding for development projects across the country on a daily basis, so we were intrigued to see where these were most likely to get permission and at what rate.

“We are pleased to see a number of planning bodies across the country are keen for the redevelopment and expansion of property on offer in their areas, and are delighted to provide our current and future clients with an insight into this data. 

The City of London is Revealed to Have One of the Highest Planning Permission Success Rates in England by Sam Allcock, News Anyway, November 7, 2017

Read the full story here: https://www.newsanyway.com/2017/11/07/city-london-revealed-one-highest-planning-permission-success-rates-england/

The story title in News Anyway isn’t all it could be, if the City was joint first for allowing major planning applications and first for minor applications, overall it has the highest planning permission success rate in England! We note that the local City Matters newspaper stated in its issue of 15-21 November 2017 that the ‘report highlighted the City’s willingness to rubberstamp bids of varying sizes…’ (Developers in love with City, page 3). The fact that the City of London is willing to ‘rubberstamp’ developments like Taylor Wimpey’s The Denizen on Golden Lane – which will steal sunlight from schools, local homes and a park – illustrates exactly what’s wrong with the undemocratic business vote system and why it should be abolished. Local people have no say in decisions that massively impact their lives because faceless financial interests control the City of London council under the business vote system. We want democracy and a proper say in what goes on around us!

Image above shows two of the banners on Bowater House forming part of the protest exhibition Spectres of Modernism against Taylor Wimpey’s Denizen development. Arnaud Desjardin’s French, which he asks people to read, translates as “city = thieves = liars = speculators”. Free Exorcism With Every Taylor Wimpey Ghost Home is by Stewart Home. Ghost homes are residential properties which the buyer neither lives in nor rents out, but on which huge profits can be made due to rising house prices.

“A spectre is haunting the cynical overdevelopment that characterises London’s buy to leave property boom, the spectre of modernism!” #savegoldenlane

Campaign Against Tax Havens

It was interesting to watch Gordon Brown’s anti-tax haven petition head speedily up to a million signatures yesterday. Let’s hope this marks the start of a turnaround from the system we have now whereby the rich fleece the entire world; although we won’t be holding our breath as far as Gordon Brown’s petition goes. That said, we certainly need some wealth redistribution from rich to poor.

The UK has long off-shored its financial secrecy to the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, places like the Cayman Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. In these tax havens the murky origins of untold billions are erased before the money flows into the City of London. If this financial secrecy network is considered as a single entity, then it has to be the number one target for those wanting tax justice. The City of London is the crown and capstone of this network. Little surprise then that Jersey born former City of London council boss Mark Boleat is very much involved in business in the Channel Islands, and he’s also pushing via the Housing and Finance Institute to put an end to local democracy throughout the UK.

So let’s get rid of tax havens, but while we’re at it we need to abolish the business vote in the City of London! Once there is democracy in this local authority area there’s no way developments like Taylor Wimpey’s The Denizen on Golden Lane would scrape through planning approval; and at the same time reforming the City of London would do much for financial transparency!

Here’s the letter Gordon Brown has been getting millions to sign on his petition page against tax havens:

Dear President Mauricio Macri and leaders of the G20,

The level of global inequality is appalling — 8 people own as much wealth as half the planet.

And the gap is growing, thanks in part to the shadowy world of tax havens which lets trillions be syphoned offshore from our economies. Right now, the rich get richer, and the rest of us pay.

Eight years ago the G20 agreed it would shut down these practices. It’s time to deliver. We call on you to act immediately to end tax havens and ensure that those that run and exploit them are held to account.

Nobody should be able to evade their duty to pay tax for the public good. It is your responsibility to make that so. As citizens from around the world, we demand action.

Sincerely,

More information

“Eight years ago as UK Prime Minister and chair of the G20, I tried to end the injustice of global tax havens. But as the Paradise Papers leak shows, trillions are still being siphoned off to dodge tax in the most shadowy places in the global economy.

It’s one of today’s greatest injustices, allowing the richest to stand aside while the rest of us pay for health, education, and protecting the most vulnerable.

But now we have a chance to stop it — through an international agreement that outlaws tax havens and imposes penalties and prison sentences on tax evaders. And the G20, the leaders of the world’s biggest economies, can make it happen.

Please join me in signing this open letter to Argentine President Mauricio Macri, chair of the G20 — if a million of us sign, I will personally deliver it to him, asking him and other G20 leaders to take urgent action to finish the job we began in 2009.”

— Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister of the UK — with Avaaz

Find the petition here: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/paradise_papers_loc/