The privatization of city-owned properties continues apace. This time, the manor we occupied had had space for community activities until last spring, when Pukinmäki-Seura, which had been taking care of it, was evicted due to the city’s intentions to sell it. The city’s intention was to sell the house in the fall, but surprisingly, a suitable buyer was not found in time, so the sale has now been postponed until next winter.
As the ecological disaster continues to worsen, it is important to remember that a good life does not require very much material things after basic needs are met. Today, Saturday October 26th 2024, the doors of the Pukinmäki Manor will open for an evening of social games, poetry and music, soul food whose carbon footprint is approaching zero, especially since in a non-commercial event, the fueling of economic growth is kept to a minimum.
Here in Helsinki, the city administration’s environmentally justified densification strategy also serves as a cover for the brutal gentrification of residential areas. For example, next to our neighboring Oulunkylä station, rental blocks of flats built in the 1970s, where 450 people lived, were demolished in connection with the construction of Raide-jokeri (tram 15). According to the city (Maaherrantie plan), densification was necessary due to improved transport connections and boasted that densification would bring 900 new residents to the area.
However, the rents of the new blocks of apartment buildings are about double those of the old apartment buildings. The original 450 residents of the area did not therefore get 900 new neighbors, but were displaced from the area on a class basis and replaced by 1,350 new, significantly wealthier residents. Densification was not even proposed for the single-family home area that opens up behind the apartment buildings.
Let’s stop looking for false and harmful fake solutions. Down with capitalism, up with the environment! On a dead planet, you can no longer buy your way to happiness.