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I teach a public policy course at UCSD on challenges in Global Cities. The whole point of the course is to ask students to think through the nested and systemic nature of social problems that are not unique to one particular city. - this week’s topic is homelessness. (1/thread)
I think the best overview of the topic is Wright 2000 - who talks about individual, socio-structural, and political-economic causes of homelessness, with one being nested within the other requiring Global, National, and Local Solutions:
https://www-jstor-org.libproxy2.usc.edu/stable/2654929?sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=2&socuuid=170dba9a-3b5c-4117-8e04-94fed114dd93&socplat=twitter (2)
https://www-jstor-org.libproxy2.usc.edu/stable/2654929?sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=2&socuuid=170dba9a-3b5c-4117-8e04-94fed114dd93&socplat=twitter (2)
If we only rely on individual levels of analysis, we will over-prioritize choice-based explanations. Under this position, punitive solutions are necessary to shape moral behavior and discourage "bad" behavior. Homeless solutions are framed as charity for individuals (3)
Here’s the thing: If charity can solve individual failures, we’ll choose piecemeal solutions funded by temporary benefactors with financial stake in diffusing homeless from wealthy city centers. Homeless solutions are little more than another set of amenities for wealthy folk (4)
That's why the socio-economic explanation is key: Decreasing affordable housing and reducing government support remains a driving cause. Social housing programs work, and there are great examples, like in Helsinki, the only EU city to see declines. (5) https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/mar/22/finland-solved-homelessness-eu-crisis-housing-first
Like San Diego, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, and others cannot build enough temporary shelters to keep up with the unhoused. But Helsinki has effectively ended people losing their homes as a cause of homelessness by … building housing.(6) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/homelessness-finland-housing-first_n_5c503844e4b0f43e410ad8b6
The final driver of poverty in global cities remains the skyrocketing global housing market and polarization of wages. Restricted supply AND depression of demand is to blame - people can’t afford the rent because the economy is increasingly stratified with poverty/gig labor. (7)
Fortunately a ton of cities are on the cusp of treating homelessness as a nested crisis - individual, socio-political, and international-economic. And cities are banding together to solve these issues: (8) https://citiesforhousing.org/#section--1
San Diego's problems are inextricable from global economic pressures. In this way, our local issues are global. Every home we build, every living wage ordinance, every childcare facility subsidized, every prevailing wage decision, every public benefit in development ... (9)
...is wealth we invest in residents rather than chasing start-ups and wealthy “creatives” to keep the city afloat. Inclusive growth is about reclaiming our power to make our decisions about our future and building up our residents, starting with the most vulnerable. (10)
