The staying power of temporarily taking over urban space When Oxford University professor Alexander Vasudevan sat down to write The Autonomous City: A History of Urban Squatting (Verso Books), he saw immediate connections between the affordability crisis that?s hitting housing markets across the globe and the squatting movements that coalesced in many cities during different stretches of the 20th century. Due to increasing criminalization of such practices?and the skyrocketing value of urban real estate?squatting as a widespread movement is unlikely to spring up again in this country any time soon.
But, with a rising number of U.S. residents facing housing insecurity, it?s a fitting time to look back on the history of this particular strain of housing activism, to see how efforts to reclaim the city may be reflected in today?s debates. ?People have this desire and need to take housing back, and take some control,? says Vasudevan. ?I expect some movement will re-emerge,? he argues, ?with the sheer scale of housing insecurity we face today.?
Delving into the history of squatting and radical housing activism, Vasudevan?s book traces the ways housing insecurity and affordability crises intertwine with movements to claim and reclaim homes and apartments. Curbed spoke to him about the varied ways that squatting has left an imprint on modern city living.

A former squat in East Berlin

Neighborhood ?trailblazers?
Squatters, especially in cities such a...