Worth Living Living between town and country 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. Where to live? © Katharina Fitz Photos from Manchester and Liverpool Boarded-up Houses Katharina Fitz has been searching for empty houses in Liverpool and Manchester. Her photos highlight a problem that goes far beyond the former industrial cities. 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. Photo (detail): © Tonio Postel City and country life Town mouse or country mouse? Everyone has their own idea of the best place to live. Goethe.de/kultur asked four people why they have chosen to live in the countryside or in the city. Living differently 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. Back to "Archive" Top
