Cluj is experiencing “hipsterfication” among other “neo-liberal” market pressures. Photo from Ukulele Road Trip.
Cluj-Napoca is a historic city of about 300,000 residents in northeast Romania. The city is considered the unofficial capital of Transylvania and it contains the country’s largest free university.
Since the fall of communism in the 1990s, Romania's housing stock has been re-privatized. That's created the first generation of renters in 50 years while at the same time little rent regulation and low-cost housing have been put in place. Recently, a new mayor has pushed free-market reforms, tax breaks and zoning changes in a bid to make Cluj-Napoca into the hipster, tech-hub of Romania. The result has been skyrocketing rents and displacement of the region’s students, renters, and Roma (gypsy) population.
Sound familiar?
It’s gentrification with a post-communist twist.
Cornelius speaks with tenant organizers Vlad Muresan of the Cluj Tenants Union for an amazing look at how global capital puts the pinch on working people around the world.
If you have ideas that can help people in Cluj, please reach out to Muresan via the groups Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/chiriasicluj/
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https://anchor.fm/priced-out-podcast
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