Housing shortage in Zurich
Student pretends to be homeless on TikTok – but that’s a lie
Behind TikTokerin Lorena from Zurich was an art project
© Lorena.am.Limmat / TikTok
A young student from Zurich loses her apartment and is suddenly homeless – this fate moved many users on TikTok. However, the story was merely an art project by students.
In December, student Lorena posted a video on TikTok in which she looked desperately at the camera. The young woman keeps tearing her hair and talks about her problem: Her landlord has increased the rent for the apartment in which she and her boyfriend live. “I can’t afford it,” says the art student from Zurich.
In the course of the following weeks, things take a dramatic turn: Within a week, Lorena first loses her boyfriend, then her apartment and almost ends up on the street. Her last resort is her university, the Zurich University of the Arts, where she can stay overnight. Nevertheless: Lorena is now homeless. Many users on TikTok share in their fate. Until the student reveals that her whole story was a lie.
TikTok: Homeless student was just an art project
With the story, the woman, who referred to TikTok “Lorena.am.Limmat (River that flows through Zurich, editor’s note)” calls, point to rising rents and housing shortage in Zurich. “Housing shortage in Zurich is a real problem, unfortunately the story isn’t,” she revealed in a video – about a month after she claimed to be homeless now. Behind it Project by art students from Zurich Lorena emphasizes that the story is not entirely out of thin air, it is based “on true stories”.
“In the last few decades, Zurich has developed into a model city that is attracting more and more residents. The lack of housing, high rents and gentrification are the consequences of this success,” criticizes the group of students. The local population can hardly afford the rents and are being pushed out by wealthier sections of the population.
Students point out the housing shortage in Zurich
At the beginning of December, the student started uploading short videos to her TikTok account. In these, she showed how she had moved to Zurich to study with high hopes and shared a great apartment with her boyfriend. The rent increase allegedly came as a shock, then the young woman had to sleep in the university, on various sofas and benches in the building.
She let her followers participate in all of this. The reactions are now divided. Some users feel duped by Lorena and accuse her of using her privileges to pretend to be homeless. Others praise her for drawing attention to an important topic with her creative portrayal.
Sources: Lorena.am.Limmat on TikTok / youtube