Letter to Paddy Cosgrave WebSummit Lisbon '17 on GENTRIFICATION in Lisbon
Sometime ago I got this message from Paddy Cosgrave, co-founder of WebSummit. Although I was sure it was a personal message, I felt I had to write a very personal reply.
mariana,
I’m planning to spend more time in Lisbon and I’m looking for a house or apartment with 5 or more bedrooms and was wondering can you help?
If you or anyone you know has a house or apartment in Lisbon that we could rent for a year, please just reply to this email.
My family and I, as well as some of our growing team, are looking for somewhere special. We live with 6 friends in Dublin in our house, and we’d love to do the same in Lisbon.
Looking forward to spending more time in the amazing Lisbon.
Thanks for your time.
Paddy
and my answer was:
Hi Paddy,
Sorry but I don't know of any houses with so many bedrooms.
I hope you find what you are looking for :)
It's getting more and more difficult to find good houses at a fair price in Lisbon.
I'm getting kicked out from the neighbourhood I was born in this Summer, because the rent is going up so much there's no way a Digital Art DIrector like me can pay for it, let alone the people who are unemployed or struggling. I imagine you would be amazed at the amount of underpaid tech and design people out there. (Rents for a 3 bedroom apartment cost more than a whole monthly paycheck). Most of my colleagues have to live with their parents.
This is getting very traumatic for so many lisboners. Even my parents who are almost 70 years old are in this same situation. How can they possibly earn more to pay higher rent if the government cuts keep coming? They don't understand this Brave New World and they shouldn't pay so dearly for it.
I am very happy that Web Summit is happening in Lisbon. But I'm not sure Portugal is prepared for the kind of gentrification that happened in San Francisco because of all the Tech companies.
I urge you and the Web Summit organization to look at this carefully, grow sustainably, do not overlook the negative impact this kind of development might have in Lisbon. Don't sugarcoat it, be real and start a discussion, because these are people's lives and homes that are being destroyed.
Please approach gentrification, tech industries economic impact, sustainable tourism and similar themes this year. Look at what is happening in Barcelona or Venice, and the issue of the trivialisation of the travel experience with the subsequent destruction of ecosystems and local economies/comunities/culture.
Here are some interesting links