Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how homeless people who live in or use public urban spaces (in absence of their own private spaces) break its rules and convert it into their (private) spheres for different activities related to work, leisure and/or personal needs such as rest and hygiene.

Paper long abstract:

Although public space is an essential component of the daily life of people experiencing homelessness, numerous studies have confirmed increasing surveillance/policing, regulation/criminalization, and control (e.g., defensive architecture) in public spaces. Spatial exclusion is of particular concern since public and third spaces are often seen as increasingly divided and exclusionary with regard to homeless people. Based on collaborative team fieldwork in Croatia, this comparative research (CSRP) aims to understand homeless people’s everyday lives from their perspectives exploring their experiences of homelessness, vulnerability, and identities, especially in relation to urban spaces. This paper is based on ethnographic accounts that focus on how those affected by homelessness respond against or adapt to processes of social and spatial exclusion. While recognizing the multiple factors that lead to individuals becoming excluded, this paper draws on structuration theory that conceptualizes these as resulting from broader structures as well as individuals’ interaction within these (Giddens, 1984). Namely, we are interested in how homeless people who live in or use public urban spaces (in absence of their own private spaces) break its rules and convert it into their (private) spheres for different activities related to work, leisure and/or personal needs such as rest and hygiene. Specifically, it analyses how some homeless people challenge the rules associated with occupying public and third spaces that either directly or tacitly exclude them. It is hoped that these discussions will lead to contextually more effective interventions, improved social policy, and social change that addresses the roots of homelessness and social suffering.