All posts tagged: Affordable housing

Venice election turns into test of Meloni’s right-wing cultural revolution – POLITICO

Venice election turns into test of Meloni’s right-wing cultural revolution – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Promoted by sections of the right as the symbol of a new generation ready to challenge Italy’s progressive cultural establishment, Venezi instead became a lightning rod in a broader debate over whether the government’s cultural agenda relied too heavily on political symbolism. Andrea Martella, the center-left candidate for mayor and currently an MP for the Democratic Party, argued the controversies surrounding both La Fenice and the Biennale had damaged the city’s standing. “With both, there was a short circuit between Rome and Venice which ended up humiliating the institutions,” Martella said. “In a city like Venice, this carries enormous weight, because culture is not only part of the past but also the present and future of this extraordinary community: its identity, work, prestige and capacity to attract talent.” Simone Venturini, now the center-right’s candidate for mayor, talks to the press outside Santa Lucia train station in April 2024. | Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images) While Venice has become symbolically important in national politics, the center-right’s candidate for mayor and current councilor for tourism, Simone Venturini, …

London is now a no-go zone for developers, warns capital’s biggest housebuilder after shopping centre plan rejected

London is now a no-go zone for developers, warns capital’s biggest housebuilder after shopping centre plan rejected

Published by Sam Flores

Developers “can no longer invest in new London sites”, the capital’s biggest housebuilder has claimed after its plan to bulldoze an old shopping centre for almost 900 homes was rejected. Berkeley Group‘s bid to knockdown the Aylesham Centre in Peckham was dismissed by the planning inspector this week. The scheme would have seen 867 new flats, 77 of which would be affordable. While the planning inspector said the development would bring “social and economic benefits” and ease Southwark’s “acute” housing shortage, it ruled this would “not outweigh the harm to the relevant designated heritage assets important to the area”. Rob Perrins, Executive Chair at Berkeley Group, said: “This decision demonstrates the extreme uncertainty developers continue to experience within the planning system.” The proposed development at the Aylesham Centre in Peckham (Berkeley Homes) He added: “How can we be allowed to build next to world heritage assets like Tower Bridge, but not here? “If we’re no longer permitted to meet housing needs on brownfield land then where should we build? It would take hundreds of acres …

The far right in Portugal – POLITICO

The far right in Portugal – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The tourism economy flourished, but it came at the cost of local residents, who were ejected from apartments hastily converted into short-term rentals and priced out of their local tascas. Home prices across the country jumped more than 124 percent between 2015 and 2025, and the median price-per-square meter in Lisbon now hovers around €5,914. “There are pluses and minuses to tourism, and it’s helped rehabilitate many of our cities,” said Sérgio Sousa Pinto, a Socialist Party lawmaker who served in the national parliament from 2011 to 2025. “But that’s not top of mind for a family that can no longer afford to pay rent.” As European Council president, Costa has urged leaders to tackle Europe’s housing crisis. But during his time as prime minister, he failed to adopt major policies to expand supply or curb rising costs. For years he denied short-term rentals were having an impact on home prices, and he only moved to end the controversial golden visa scheme in 2023. Chega leader André Ventura speaks after his defeat in the presidential …

Von der Leyen tries to stamp out tensions in her top team – POLITICO

Von der Leyen tries to stamp out tensions in her top team – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

While the meeting will focus on competitiveness and will feature a special guest — IMF Managing Director and former Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva — also on the agenda are discussions on “geopolitics in the current context and the working methods of the European Commission,” Commission deputy chief spokesperson Arianna Podestà told POLITICO. The latter element was prompted by what staffers inside the Berlaymont, the Commission’s HQ, describe as an unusually tense atmosphere. The spark for the idea of the meeting, according to four of the Commission officials, was a tense exchange in early December in which Dan Jørgensen, the energy commissioner, confronted Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera during a meeting of the College of Commissioners — as first reported in Brussels Playbook. Jørgensen will be attending the Feb. 4 meeting, his team said. Ribera’s team did not respond. | Thierry Monasse/Getty Images Both commissioners declined to comment on the incident but one official said Jørgensen had raised his voice when confronting Ribera, while another said the Danish commissioner “made a point toward Ribera that …

Trump bites. Europe grasps for an antidote. – POLITICO

Trump bites. Europe grasps for an antidote. – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“A little less conversation, a little more action.” That line from an old Elvis Presley song could double as a critique of Europe’s position right now — and as a prescription. On this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with former Spanish foreign minister, Arancha González-Laya, about how Europe should operate at a moment when power is exercised more bluntly and patience for rules is wearing thin. Her core argument echoes Presley’s advice: Europe isn’t powerless — it just needs to use the leverage it already has. González-Laya, an ex-EU trade negotiator and now dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, explains what Europe’s leverage looks like in practice: deeper cooperation on energy and defense, and a more assertive use of the internal market. She describes these as Europe’s antidotes to Trump-era chaos — exemplified by his renewed claims over Greenland and the capture of Venezuela’s president — and discusses how Europe could respond to the situation in Iran. Later, in another installment of the Berlaymont Who’s Who series, …

Trump bites. Europe grasps for an antidote. – POLITICO

Inside Europe’s far right — going pro and going strong – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

When Europe’s biggest political family crosses the aisle to vote with the far right, something fundamental shifts in Brussels. In this episode, host Sarah Wheaton unpacks the vote that cracked the European Parliament’s cordon sanitaire — and what a newly disciplined, image-polished far right means for Ursula von der Leyen’s shaky centrist alliance. POLITICO’s Marianne Gros and Max Griera take us inside the omnibus showdown; Tim Ross demonstrates how the same forces are reshaping politics across Europe — from the English seaside town of Jaywick to Paris, Berlin and beyond. Plus — Aitor Hernández-Morales brings us a surprising counterpoint from Denmark, where voters pushed back against a left-wing government they felt had leaned too far toward the right. Source link