How Expats and International Students Created a Mega Real-Estate Crisis for Everyone
No one is speaking about this!
The internationalization of cities has caused a number of problems that have worsened social-economic inequalities.
As a direct actor (international student, then expat) in this problem, I wish to shine a new light on this phenomenon — especially since no one is speaking about this.
To fully understand the problem and how it unfolded, we need to go back to the beginning.
Erasmus
In the mid-80s, the European Commission established an exchange program for students.
They called it the Erasmus program. The program really took off in the 2000s.
It became so popular that movies were made about this (see the movie The Spanish Apartment).
By 2006, 1% of students in the entire EU student population were enrolled in Erasmus.
The program was dubbed one of the most successful initiatives of the EU ever when former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that it had likely enabled the birth of “one million Erasmus babies.”
All was going well. Too well.
