The Housing Crisis and the Sharist Perspective

A Global Problem

The housing crisis is a growing issue affecting major urban centers worldwide. Skyrocketing prices, speculation, gentrification, and the conversion of residential properties into short-term tourist rentals have made access to adequate housing increasingly difficult for many people, especially young people, low-income workers, and vulnerable communities.

The Limits of the Protectionist Approach

Many governments respond to the housing crisis through protectionist policies: rent control, building regulations, housing subsidies, or immigration restrictions aimed at reducing demand. While these measures may offer short-term relief, they rarely address the structural causes of the crisis—particularly the commodification of housing as an asset rather than a basic right.

The Sharist Vision: From Ownership to Shared Access

Sharism proposes a paradigm shift: considering housing not as a commodity to be exploited but as a shared resource to be rethought collectively and sustainably. This means:

• Promoting collaborative living models such as co-housing, cooperative housing, and community land trusts.
• Encouraging the reuse of underutilized buildings for social housing purposes.
• Supporting platforms that facilitate the shared use of space, especially in cities with a large stock of vacant housing units.
• Fostering policies that prioritize the public and communal use of property, not just private accumulation.

Concrete Examples

• In Germany, some cities like Berlin have launched initiatives to repurchase properties sold to investment funds and return them to public ownership.
• In Uruguay, housing cooperatives allow communities to build and manage housing together, avoiding speculation.
• In the Netherlands, the concept of “circular neighborhoods” promotes housing designed for flexibility, reuse, and intergenerational cohabitation.

Sharism and Digital Platforms

A Sharist approach also calls for the development of digital platforms governed by communities and public actors—not profit-driven corporations—to manage shared housing opportunities, matching needs with availability in a transparent and fair way.

Housing as a Human Right

Sharism reminds us that the right to a home cannot be subjected to the logic of maximum profit. A Sharist society is one where innovation and technology are placed at the service of collective well-being, and where living means participating, sharing, and building together—not just owning.

More information abour Sharism https://sharism.wiki or https://sharism.xyz