Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a visual story of London’s boating community, examining how access to healthcare services being tied to a fixed address is an ongoing challenge for a diverse, eccentric, and growing urban population.

Paper long abstract:

In March 2023 ‘Navigating the System’ will become the second exhibition hosted at UCL Urban Room in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London. This paper will examine the research behind the exhibition and talk through some of the photos exhibited.

In the last decade, exacerbated by the ongoing housing crisis, the number of liveaboard boats across London has quintupled, now standing at over 2200. The majority of those individuals living afloat in the capital – ‘London Boaters’ – live a transient lifestyle, mandated to move location each fortnight. Despite residing within an urban centre, due to having 'no fixed address' challenges are often faced such as difficulty voting, claiming benefits and registering with GP services. On this final issue, with research showing that nearly four in ten (36%) of London's boaters having had problems registering with a GP due to a lack of address, and a further 30% have not even attempted to register. Those who are registered are on average 47km from their GP at any point in time.

In the summer of 2022, UCL Anthropologist Joseph Cook and Nura Ali from UCL DPU conducted interviews and surveys with a wide range of London’s boaters, understanding the human side of trying to gain access to healthcare in a world bound by catchment areas and postcodes. Portraits and home photographs were captured by young boater photographer Caitlin Vinicombe. This paper will examine urban health through the lens of transience, baselessness, and loophole-finding.