This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution. Using Athens as a case study, this article provides empirical evidence to revive the theoretical treatment of the importance of arrival and accommodation infrastructures in urban areas in transition. We collected and compiled data from four sources: the 2011 population census, the 2018 ESTIA accommodation program and the UNHCR Site Management Support (SMS) Reports of Temporary Accommodation Sites and Reception and Identification Centres (RICs), and a primary survey of services for asylum seekers and refugees. After the geocoding of data, we calculate indices for key dimensions of the segregation of accommodated asylum seekers and foreign nationals. We discuss the findings, seeking to highlight how the location and the composition of accommodation infrastructures has been influenced by a wider process of urban change and adaptations to global forces, leading not only to the transformation of inner-city zones but also suburban and peri-urban areas.
Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berli... more Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, or Paris, has depicted the messy character of neoliberal reforms addressing only street homelessness and the visible poor. We set out a conceptual framework for the comparative study of poverty taking into account both its visible and invisible aspects in Southern European cities. Contested landscapes of poverty assistance are being reshaped by competing policy experimentations: those compatible with market logics and conservative values for managing the visible poor and those orientated to community development, recognising the rights and the needs of the poor. Times of crisis are opportune to problematise governmentalities of rolling with neoliberalism by questioning the assumptions of policies and their effects and to shape progressive experiments.
Abstract This chapter investigates the ambiguous relationships between contempo-rary immigration ... more Abstract This chapter investigates the ambiguous relationships between contempo-rary immigration and the competitiveness/cohesion equilibrium in the metropolitan region of the Greek capital. It makes use of the latest available data on immigrants' employment and ...
Specific policy changes concerning the poor and the homeless in Greece date from 2011, when the G... more Specific policy changes concerning the poor and the homeless in Greece date from 2011, when the Greek government and the EU had to finalise the bailout package and to secure the transfer of emergency aid for Greece. Two main processes delineated the arena for policy experimentations for local and civil society actors: residualisation of key social policy areas and devolution of central state powers. This chapter identifies a complex interplay between a ‘humanitarian crisis’ discourse (formulated by key NGOs and adopted by the left-wing party of SYRIZA) and an ‘extreme poverty’ discourse (advanced by EU agencies and adopted by conservative governments). While these discourses clashed, they actually converge to produce a weak compromise over short-sighted and short-lived provisions for the poor that are locally administered.
Estimates and maps of different forms of homelessness and poverty in Athens are produced by using... more Estimates and maps of different forms of homelessness and poverty in Athens are produced by using FEANTSA’s ETHOS typology and Hopper’s classification of visible and invisible homelessness. Findings suggest a significant increase of (visible) homelessness mostly concerning people in various shelters and recently arrived immigrants, while roofless street persons are less numerous than expected. Existing provisions cannot address the dramatic increase of needs amongst the invisible poor, while there is an alarming deterioration of the physical and mental health amongst the visible homeless. Crisis interventions, along with intensified policing, lessen the visible aspects of homelessness, and forms of containment become evident in overcrowded prisons, Roma camps, and detention centres on the city periphery. Austerity policies curtail access to public services and serve to justifying discrimination.
This chapter maps the multiple effects of the crisis in metropolitan areas of Southern Europe: ri... more This chapter maps the multiple effects of the crisis in metropolitan areas of Southern Europe: rising urban poverty, unemployment, household over-indebtedness, the increase of children in poverty risk, deterioration of the living conditions of immigrants, and marginalisation of asylum seekers, which cumulatively exacerbate historically established patterns of poverty in Southern Europe. These effects reflect historical divisions between North and South, consequences of the housing crunch, and location in the contemporary circuits of capital and international migration. Our findings also point to a seemingly paradoxical fact: while invisible homelessness and poverty increase dramatically, there is only a moderate rise of visible homelessness. Explanations are to be sought in a complex array of solidarity practices, which, however, are often conditioned by particularistic interests and conservative norms of belonging.
Our findings from Athens illustrate how in Southern Europe stopgap measures dominate homelessness... more Our findings from Athens illustrate how in Southern Europe stopgap measures dominate homelessness policy and preclude addressing both visible and invisible needs more effectively through prevention and universal coverage of health needs. However, these conflict with austerity and rolling back of the welfare state. A consequence is the emergence of an anti-poverty industry, in which local actors remain puzzled as to how to manage increasing demand and roll with the assumptions of calculative logic, targeting, and entrepreneurialism. On the other hand, pluralism within civil society enables the problematisation of policies, questioning the logic of markets and practices of clientelism and charity. In awareness of neoliberal strategies to colonise deprived locales, community development strategies may sustain creative and democratic responses to both visible and invisible poverty.
This chapter explores and synthesises what welfare agencies perceive to be the main consequences ... more This chapter explores and synthesises what welfare agencies perceive to be the main consequences of austerity on their day-to-day operations. Issues that concern financial barriers (unemployment benefits and uninsured persons), organisational deficiencies (strict shelter admission regulations and/or lack of expertise), or cultural constraints (stigmatisation and discrimination in public health services) are placed within a broader perspective of contradictory features and a hybrid nature of existing provisions. Along with assessing the perceived effects of austerity policies, we consider the combined aspects of clientelism, antagonisms, and preferential treatment by some agencies, which beset the system of services. Last, the chapter briefly reviews the history of anti-poverty and housing rights advocacy in Greece and its contribution to policy shaping and learning, towards an integrated anti-poverty strategy.
Contested Landscapes of Poverty and Homelessness In Southern Europe, 2017
Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berli... more Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, or Paris, has depicted the messy character of neoliberal reforms addressing only street homelessness and the visible poor. We set out a conceptual framework for the comparative study of poverty taking into account both its visible and invisible aspects in Southern European cities. Contested landscapes of poverty assistance are being reshaped by competing policy experimentations: those compatible with market logics and conservative values for managing the visible poor and those orientated to community development, recognising the rights and the needs of the poor. Times of crisis are opportune to problematise governmentalities of rolling with neoliberalism by questioning the assumptions of policies and their effects and to shape progressive experiments.
Contested Landscapes of Poverty and Homelessness In Southern Europe, 2017
Alternatives to the emergency management of poverty and homelessness are explored by considering,... more Alternatives to the emergency management of poverty and homelessness are explored by considering, through case studies, the experience of three pioneering organisations, which could articulate and implement housing-led schemes in Greece for especially vulnerable populations excluded from emergency provisions and shelter. Making links between visible and invisible homelessness; safeguarding the rights of the homeless, especially with regard to links between treatment and housing; and sound collaboration between agencies emerge as key ingredients in distinguishing community approaches. Distinctive mentalities and practices of community care, like community refugee housing, community psychiatry, and drug-addiction treatment, largely remain unexplored in contemporary policy-making. These case studies help identify potential areas of experimentation, with all the contradictions and misapplication risks that are often implicated with processes of policy change.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution. Using Athens as a case study, this article provides empirical evidence to revive the theoretical treatment of the importance of arrival and accommodation infrastructures in urban areas in transition. We collected and compiled data from four sources: the 2011 population census, the 2018 ESTIA accommodation program and the UNHCR Site Management Support (SMS) Reports of Temporary Accommodation Sites and Reception and Identification Centres (RICs), and a primary survey of services for asylum seekers and refugees. After the geocoding of data, we calculate indices for key dimensions of the segregation of accommodated asylum seekers and foreign nationals. We discuss the findings, seeking to highlight how the location and the composition of accommodation infrastructures has been influenced by a wider process of urban change and adaptations to global forces, leading not only to the transformation of inner-city zones but also suburban and peri-urban areas.
Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berli... more Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, or Paris, has depicted the messy character of neoliberal reforms addressing only street homelessness and the visible poor. We set out a conceptual framework for the comparative study of poverty taking into account both its visible and invisible aspects in Southern European cities. Contested landscapes of poverty assistance are being reshaped by competing policy experimentations: those compatible with market logics and conservative values for managing the visible poor and those orientated to community development, recognising the rights and the needs of the poor. Times of crisis are opportune to problematise governmentalities of rolling with neoliberalism by questioning the assumptions of policies and their effects and to shape progressive experiments.
Abstract This chapter investigates the ambiguous relationships between contempo-rary immigration ... more Abstract This chapter investigates the ambiguous relationships between contempo-rary immigration and the competitiveness/cohesion equilibrium in the metropolitan region of the Greek capital. It makes use of the latest available data on immigrants' employment and ...
Specific policy changes concerning the poor and the homeless in Greece date from 2011, when the G... more Specific policy changes concerning the poor and the homeless in Greece date from 2011, when the Greek government and the EU had to finalise the bailout package and to secure the transfer of emergency aid for Greece. Two main processes delineated the arena for policy experimentations for local and civil society actors: residualisation of key social policy areas and devolution of central state powers. This chapter identifies a complex interplay between a ‘humanitarian crisis’ discourse (formulated by key NGOs and adopted by the left-wing party of SYRIZA) and an ‘extreme poverty’ discourse (advanced by EU agencies and adopted by conservative governments). While these discourses clashed, they actually converge to produce a weak compromise over short-sighted and short-lived provisions for the poor that are locally administered.
Estimates and maps of different forms of homelessness and poverty in Athens are produced by using... more Estimates and maps of different forms of homelessness and poverty in Athens are produced by using FEANTSA’s ETHOS typology and Hopper’s classification of visible and invisible homelessness. Findings suggest a significant increase of (visible) homelessness mostly concerning people in various shelters and recently arrived immigrants, while roofless street persons are less numerous than expected. Existing provisions cannot address the dramatic increase of needs amongst the invisible poor, while there is an alarming deterioration of the physical and mental health amongst the visible homeless. Crisis interventions, along with intensified policing, lessen the visible aspects of homelessness, and forms of containment become evident in overcrowded prisons, Roma camps, and detention centres on the city periphery. Austerity policies curtail access to public services and serve to justifying discrimination.
This chapter maps the multiple effects of the crisis in metropolitan areas of Southern Europe: ri... more This chapter maps the multiple effects of the crisis in metropolitan areas of Southern Europe: rising urban poverty, unemployment, household over-indebtedness, the increase of children in poverty risk, deterioration of the living conditions of immigrants, and marginalisation of asylum seekers, which cumulatively exacerbate historically established patterns of poverty in Southern Europe. These effects reflect historical divisions between North and South, consequences of the housing crunch, and location in the contemporary circuits of capital and international migration. Our findings also point to a seemingly paradoxical fact: while invisible homelessness and poverty increase dramatically, there is only a moderate rise of visible homelessness. Explanations are to be sought in a complex array of solidarity practices, which, however, are often conditioned by particularistic interests and conservative norms of belonging.
Our findings from Athens illustrate how in Southern Europe stopgap measures dominate homelessness... more Our findings from Athens illustrate how in Southern Europe stopgap measures dominate homelessness policy and preclude addressing both visible and invisible needs more effectively through prevention and universal coverage of health needs. However, these conflict with austerity and rolling back of the welfare state. A consequence is the emergence of an anti-poverty industry, in which local actors remain puzzled as to how to manage increasing demand and roll with the assumptions of calculative logic, targeting, and entrepreneurialism. On the other hand, pluralism within civil society enables the problematisation of policies, questioning the logic of markets and practices of clientelism and charity. In awareness of neoliberal strategies to colonise deprived locales, community development strategies may sustain creative and democratic responses to both visible and invisible poverty.
This chapter explores and synthesises what welfare agencies perceive to be the main consequences ... more This chapter explores and synthesises what welfare agencies perceive to be the main consequences of austerity on their day-to-day operations. Issues that concern financial barriers (unemployment benefits and uninsured persons), organisational deficiencies (strict shelter admission regulations and/or lack of expertise), or cultural constraints (stigmatisation and discrimination in public health services) are placed within a broader perspective of contradictory features and a hybrid nature of existing provisions. Along with assessing the perceived effects of austerity policies, we consider the combined aspects of clientelism, antagonisms, and preferential treatment by some agencies, which beset the system of services. Last, the chapter briefly reviews the history of anti-poverty and housing rights advocacy in Greece and its contribution to policy shaping and learning, towards an integrated anti-poverty strategy.
Contested Landscapes of Poverty and Homelessness In Southern Europe, 2017
Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berli... more Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, or Paris, has depicted the messy character of neoliberal reforms addressing only street homelessness and the visible poor. We set out a conceptual framework for the comparative study of poverty taking into account both its visible and invisible aspects in Southern European cities. Contested landscapes of poverty assistance are being reshaped by competing policy experimentations: those compatible with market logics and conservative values for managing the visible poor and those orientated to community development, recognising the rights and the needs of the poor. Times of crisis are opportune to problematise governmentalities of rolling with neoliberalism by questioning the assumptions of policies and their effects and to shape progressive experiments.
Contested Landscapes of Poverty and Homelessness In Southern Europe, 2017
Alternatives to the emergency management of poverty and homelessness are explored by considering,... more Alternatives to the emergency management of poverty and homelessness are explored by considering, through case studies, the experience of three pioneering organisations, which could articulate and implement housing-led schemes in Greece for especially vulnerable populations excluded from emergency provisions and shelter. Making links between visible and invisible homelessness; safeguarding the rights of the homeless, especially with regard to links between treatment and housing; and sound collaboration between agencies emerge as key ingredients in distinguishing community approaches. Distinctive mentalities and practices of community care, like community refugee housing, community psychiatry, and drug-addiction treatment, largely remain unexplored in contemporary policy-making. These case studies help identify potential areas of experimentation, with all the contradictions and misapplication risks that are often implicated with processes of policy change.
This is a sample chapter from our book "Contested Landscapes of Poverty and Homelessness in South... more This is a sample chapter from our book "Contested Landscapes of Poverty and Homelessness in Southern Europe: Reflections from Athens". Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, or Paris, has depicted the messy character of neoliberal reforms addressing only street homelessness and the visible poor. We set out a conceptual framework for the comparative study of poverty taking into account both its visible and invisible aspects in Southern European cities. Contested landscapes of poverty assistance are being reshaped by competing policy experimentations: those compatible with market logics and conservative values for managing the visible poor and those orientated to community development, recognising the rights and the needs of the poor. Times of crisis are opportune to problematise governmentalities of rolling with neoliberalism by questioning the assumptions of policies and their effects.... More at http://www.springer.com/br/book/9783319624518#reviews
(2021) Multiple Deprivation in Athens: a legacy of persisting and deepening spatial divisions, 2021
This paper, first time in the Greek literature, measures and maps multiple deprivation in Athens ... more This paper, first time in the Greek literature, measures and maps multiple deprivation in Athens in 2001 and three years into the economic crisis, in 2011, capturing the effects of two decades of urban development. We find that the spatial distribution of multiple deprivation in Athens, follows a centre-periphery as well as an east-west division that has persisted through time, and deepened during the decade of the 2000s. These divisions are linked to the political construction of the Athenian space, the way that the state has historically shaped how the city developed during the post-war period and has responded to the sovereign debt crisis since 2009. We argue that given the scale and persistency of multiple deprivation it is about time to reconsider the role of Greek urban regeneration policies that are implemented within a politically controlled and fragmented field of planning, without openly addressing redistribution and equity concerns.
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Using Athens as a case study, this article provides empirical evidence to
revive the theoretical treatment of the importance of arrival and accommodation infrastructures in urban areas in transition. We collected and compiled data from four sources: the 2011 population census, the 2018 ESTIA accommodation program and the UNHCR Site Management Support (SMS) Reports of Temporary Accommodation Sites and Reception and Identification Centres (RICs), and a primary survey of services for asylum seekers and refugees. After the geocoding of data, we
calculate indices for key dimensions of the segregation of accommodated asylum seekers and foreign nationals. We discuss the findings, seeking to highlight how the location and the composition of accommodation infrastructures has been influenced by a wider process of urban change and adaptations to global forces, leading not only to the transformation of inner-city zones but also suburban and peri-urban areas.
Using Athens as a case study, this article provides empirical evidence to
revive the theoretical treatment of the importance of arrival and accommodation infrastructures in urban areas in transition. We collected and compiled data from four sources: the 2011 population census, the 2018 ESTIA accommodation program and the UNHCR Site Management Support (SMS) Reports of Temporary Accommodation Sites and Reception and Identification Centres (RICs), and a primary survey of services for asylum seekers and refugees. After the geocoding of data, we
calculate indices for key dimensions of the segregation of accommodated asylum seekers and foreign nationals. We discuss the findings, seeking to highlight how the location and the composition of accommodation infrastructures has been influenced by a wider process of urban change and adaptations to global forces, leading not only to the transformation of inner-city zones but also suburban and peri-urban areas.
Research in metropolitan cities of the Global North, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, or Paris, has depicted the messy character of neoliberal reforms addressing only street homelessness and the visible poor. We set out a conceptual framework for the comparative study of poverty taking into account both its visible and invisible aspects in Southern European cities. Contested landscapes of poverty assistance are being reshaped by competing policy experimentations: those compatible with market logics and conservative values for managing the visible poor and those orientated to community development, recognising the rights and the needs of the poor. Times of crisis are opportune to problematise governmentalities of rolling with neoliberalism by questioning the assumptions of policies and their effects.... More at
http://www.springer.com/br/book/9783319624518#reviews
planning, without openly addressing redistribution and equity concerns.