A critical analysis of homelessness in Lisbon: a data-driven approach

In Sweden, the prevailing model for combating homelessness has been, and to a large extent still is, the disciplining staircase model, which stresses absolute sobriety as a criterion for eligibility for municipally organized special housing. The model builds on a view of the homeless as individuals incapable of independent living, albeit ones who are (potentially) able to become capable of independent living and (at least theoretically) of securing an ordinary apartment for themselves on the regular housing market, with the help of discipline and self-regulation (by adhering to the principle of absolute sobriety and complying with a number of other rules). In the staircase model, self-regulation is characteristically seen as a necessary precondition for this gradual improvement in the help receivers’ housing standard, their increasing independence (living without rules, regulations, and surveillance), and the stability of their living situation more in general (Sahlin, 2005). Of the country’s population of nine million, approximately 17,800 are homeless, in the latest estimate of the National Board of Health and Welfare (National Board of Health and Welfare [NBHW], 2006). According to the same statistics, 62 percent of the homeless have problems with addiction and 40 percent suffer from a variety of mental disorders. The Board’s figures, however, likely fail to accurately capture the size and nature of the homeless problem in the country. Due to respondent selection issues in its survey, there was, for example, no way to adequately assess the number of homeless individuals not suffering from addiction or mental health problems; nor could the number of homeless families be ascertained. Nonetheless, if the results are to be trusted, in 2005 there were 2,620 homeless persons in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city, with the municipality becoming singled out as having proportionally speaking the highest number of homeless in the country (54 homeless per 10,000 inhabitants). In subsequent years, new measures to combat homelessness have been introduced in a number of municipalities in the country. In 2007, for example, the city of Gothenburg officially abandoned the staircase model it had been using until then (see Hansen Lofstrand, 2010), adopting in its stead the so-called Housing First model, as it was named when originally launched in the United States (see Tsemberis et al., 2004). In Gothenburg, the new approach has thus far been limited to a few housing units assigned for the experimentation

Homeless adults with serious mental illnesses and chronic substance abuse problems have few housing options, a problem compounded when a criminal background is present. This study compared the criminal backgrounds and other characteristics of homeless individuals who succeeded in housing (retained housing continuously for two years) and those who failed in housing. The study population consisted of homeless adults with behavioral health disorders who moved into supportive housing between January 1, 2000, and June 30, 2004, regardless of criminal background. Data about criminal history and other characteristics were extracted from existing records and analyzed for associations with housing success. Chi square tests and logistic regression analysis were used to find characteristics predictive of subsequent housing success or failure. Data were available for 347 participants. Most (51%) had a criminal record, and 72% achieved housing success. The presence of a criminal background did not predict housing failure. Younger age at move-in, the presence of a substance abuse problem, and higher numbers of drug crimes and property crimes were separately associated with more housing failure; however, when they were adjusted for each of the other variables, only move-in age remained associated with the outcome. The finding that criminal history does not provide good predictive information about the potential for housing success is important because it contradicts the expectations of housing operators and policy makers. The findings suggest that policies and practices that keep homeless people with criminal records out of housing may be unnecessarily restrictive.

Sound, ethical decision making is essential to astute and compassionateclinical care. Wisepractitioners readily identify and reflect on the ethical aspects of their work. They engage, often intuitively and without much fuss, in careful habits—in maintaining therapeutic boundaries, in seeking consultation from experts when caring for patients with difficult or especially complex conditions, in safeguarding against danger in highrisk situations, and in endeavoring to understand more about mental illnesses and their expression in the lives of patients of all ages, in all places, and from all walks of life. These habits of thought and behavior are signs of professionalism and help ensure ethical rigor in clinical practice. Psychiatry is a specialty of medicine that, by its nature, touches on big moral questions. The conditions we treat often threaten the qualities that define human beings as individual, autonomous, responsible, developing, and fulfilled. Furthermore, the conditions wetreat often are characterized by great suffering, disability, and stigma, and yet individuals with these conditions demonstrate such tremendous adaptation and strength as well. If all work by physicians is ethically important, then our work is especially so. As a service toFocusreaders,thiscolumn provides ethics commentary on topics in clinical psychiatry. It also offers clinical ethics questionsandexpertanswersinordertosharpenreaders’decisionmaking skills and to advance astute and compassionate clinical care in our field. Laura Weiss Roberts, M.D., M.A.

Korea has experienced a remarkable economic achievement since the 1960s. However, behind this facade of growth and progress, a chronic housing shortage in the capital region, declining owner-occupation, rising housing costs, and polarization in housing conditions between the better-off and the worse-off clearly illustrate the impasse and crisis in housing that Korea now faces. In addition, the IMF crisis and the late global financial crisis shocked the Korean housing market. The Korean government has made significant policy changes to improve housing security for less-privileged groups. In order to achieve housing policy development, the Korean government has tried to employ of advanced countries. What are the benefits(merits) and dangers(demerits) of housing policy transfer between countries? This paper emphasizes that we must recognize about 'differences' rather than 'commonalities' between countries with respect to policy transfer. It also maintains that the government should play a main role as an enabler rather as a provider of 'low-cost' housing.

There are similarities between Korea and Japan in terms of national planning and development system and housing policies. Japan has suffered from great shifts of social and economic systems due to skyrocketing land prices for three times and the collapse of the bubble economy after the Second World War. The study reviews historically important changes in the national territory and housing policies for last 60 years in Japan. It also investigates changing trends and characteristics of many socioeconomic indicators with regard to population, housing and other fields in response to these policies. First of all, Japan has experienced significant economic growth before and after the 1960's, and the era of national rebuilding projects in the 1970's. After then, the period of the bubble economy has emerged since 1980; however, it suffered from skyrocketing land values between the late 1980's and the early 1990's, and the collapse of Japanese bubble economy in the early 1990's. In response, many urban regeneration policies and projects were proposed to recover the national economy since 2000. It is found that these national territory development and housing supply policies throughout the country have been influenced by the changing characteristics of social and economic conditions. Since the housing supply ratio in 1968 reached up to around 100% on average, Japan has been focusing attention to improving the residential and living quality for existing housing stock rather than supplying new housing units through large-scale new town projects. These experiences are full of helpful suggestions for our future housing and urban regeneration policies as we reach to more than 100% of housing supply ratio on average.

The general perception, on the part of South African society, is that street children are a major social menace. Yet the reality is that, street children are a vulnerable group that suffer both psychological and physical- violence including sexual abuse. This qualitative study investigated the social experiences of street children in Mafikeng, North-West Province in South Africa. Data were collected using focus group discussions made up of a total of 20 participants aged 10-19 years, and selected using convenience sampling. Three themes were extracted using the consensual qualitative method and constant comparison to establish credibility and trustworthiness. The results of the study revealed three major themes (i.e. reasons for abandoning home: life in the streets, and the desire to go back home), and three sub-themes (risks and challenges encountered, regrets, and the desire for rehabilitation and schooling). Recommendations included the need for psychological interventions among this group, the need further for research, and the need to use probability sampling techniques in future studies, as this might provide a more comprehensive picture of the situation.Keywords:Street children, social experiences, Mafikeng, Africa, vulnerable, psychological interventionIntroductionThe rapid increase in the number of homeless or street children in the cities of Africa and in the North West Province of South Africa in particular, is a matter of grave concern. Many street children are feared by members of the public because of their general physical presentation in public. They are usually dressed in rags, are unkempt, live from hand to mouth, and roam the street all day long. These children are more visible around market places, vehicle parking areas, busy road junctions, outside cinema houses, and other busy public places. At night, they sleep in uncompleted buildings, at bus stops, under bridges, in abandoned vehicles, in public gardens and parks or simply in the open. They also experience economic challenges and psychological trauma, emanating from physical violence, which includes police brutality and sexual abuse perpetrated by members of society.Street life may result in the children becoming vulnerable to exploitation, which in turn may make them get hooked to drugs such as marijuana, and glue. Street children often engage in more than one type of economic activity to make ends meet. Sometimes they engage in seasonal work in which the earnings are very low. Often the activities which they engage in are unlawful or morally inappropriate. According to Adisa (1994), street children engage principally in petty crimes such as shoplifting and pick-pocketing; they seldom take part in serious crime like robbery, car hijacking or murder. Glue-sniffing and other forms of drug abuse and prostitution also tend to be part of the street subculture (Jansen, Richter, & Griesel, 1992). The involvement in a myriad criminal activities leads to the propensity of street youths to graduate from, what Diop and Faye (1997) have termed a 'pre- delinquent state' into a state of criminality. Street Children may also engage in prostitution and homosexuality, thereby putting themselves at serious risk of contracting and spreading HIV and AIDS, in addition to other health hazards (Kruger and Richter, 2003). It is because of the potential risks they pose to society at large that the situation of street children needs to be given far greater attention than has hitherto been the case.According to Ross (1991), the majority of street children in South Africa are black and normally aged between 13 and 14 years - a legacy of the apartheid period. However, Van Niekerk (1990) argues that it is unrealistic to explain the situation of street children in South Africa on the basis of a political system alone; rather the problem should be considered holistically. While Le Roux (1993), identified family violence, parental alcoholism, abuse, poverty and personal reasons as to why many children live on the streets, Keen (1990) identified broken homes, alcoholism, violence and desertion by family as some of the factors contributing to street children. …

Emerging evidence highlights that where and how we live profoundly shapes our health - potentially even more than our genetic code. Yet, most studies linking living environment and health focus on general populations, overlooking the critical early life phase. This nationwide action program applies a ‘Health in All Policies’ focus to investigate how both outdoor (neighborhood-level) and indoor (housing-level) environmental factors impact health from the preconception phase through pregnancy and the first four years of life. This program is a collaboration between researchers from medical and technical universities and policymakers from the Ministries of Health, Internal Affairs, and Social Affairs, aimed at advancing public health. It was initiated in government-identified high-risk areas with poor livability. Moreover, this program is embedded in the national Solid Start program. We will explore how modifiable aspects of the built and social environment - such as noise, access to green space, crime, temperature, air quality, and access to safe, sustainable housing - interact to influence maternal and child health outcomes, including birth outcomes and child development. This project examines how these determinants differ between neighborhoods in the Netherlands, interact with individual factors, and shape the early-life exposome. Our approach integrates an international literature review with data analysis of national health and socio-spatial datasets based on birth cohorts. This dual strategy is guided by literature gaps and ministry priorities, ensuring research meets current needs and informs interventions. The goal is to co-develop a policy-oriented knowledge agenda with stakeholders, including ministries and public health organizations. By linking early-life health to housing and neighborhood policy, this project offers new insights to guide interventions and shows how urban planning and housing policy can reduce health inequalities from the start of life. Key messages • Where and how we live - starting even before birth - has a powerful impact on lifelong health, making housing and neighborhood conditions critical public health priorities. • This national program connects research and policy to uncover how environmental factors shape early-life health, aiming to reduce health inequalities through better urban and housing policies.

The poor quality of housing facilities and incomprehensive housing policy can lead to residents’ low rental satisfaction. This paper explores housing satisfaction among young renters, focusing on critical variables such as housing conditions, security, environment, and institutional support. The study population is focused on young residents living in Selangor and Johor. The study uses questionnaires as a research instrument, and the development of research instruments for this research is divided into two stages, namely the pilot study stage and the actual distribution stage of the questionnaire for 350 respondents. The findings found that young renters are generally satisfied with their housing conditions, housing environment, and institutional support, while housing security was insignificant in affecting satisfaction. The main implication of this study is the importance of analysing the factors that could determine the satisfaction towards rental housing from a multidimensional perspective to help plan housing policies and strategies to become more effective and conclusive for the younger generation’s well-being. This research also provides a better understanding of the demographic factors affecting house renting satisfaction. The results of this research can be used as a basis for formulating housing policies that consider relevant aspects such as housing and renter factors.

Cidades que polarizam regiões produtivas associadas ao agronegócio ganharam destaque na rede urbana do Brasil, nas últimas três décadas. O presente artigo tem como objetivo principal apresentar um quadro de dinâmicas socioespaciais vinculadas à estruturação de algumas dessas cidades, por nós chamadas de cidades do agronegócio, a partir das condições de moradia. Defendemos quatro teses: a de que o agronegócio globalizado acirra as já históricas desigualdades socioespaciais do Brasil; a de que o consumo produtivo do agronegócio e os estabelecimentos agroindustriais são determinantes para a estruturação urbana das cidades do agronegócio; a de que a moradia é uma variável chave para o estudo das desigualdades socioespaciais no espaço urbano; a de que as condições de inserção urbana dos conjuntos do Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida (PMCMV) são forte evidência da dissociação entre as políticas públicas urbana e habitacional. Como objeto de análise tivemos um conjunto de cidades do agronegócio distribuídas pelas cinco regiões brasileiras. O artigo se estrutura em torno de três questões norteadoras: quais elementos se destacam na estruturação das cidades estudadas? Como a questão da moradia se manifesta considerando os diferentes agentes da produção do espaço? Como as políticas urbana e habitacional foram conduzidas nas últimas duas décadas? A partir destas questões apresentamos elementos de argumentação para as teses defendidas.
 
 Abstract
 
 URBAN STRUCTURING AND HOUSING ISSUES IN AGRIBUSINESS CITIES
 
 Cities that polarize productive regions associated with agribusiness have gained prominence in Brazil’s urban network in the past three decades. The main objective of this article is to present some agribusiness cities, relating both its urban structuring and the socio-spatial dynamics, focusing on housing conditions. We defend four theses: first, globalized agribusiness worsens Brazil’s historic socio-spatial inequalities; second, agribusiness productive consumption and agro-industrial facilities are crucial for urban structuring in agribusiness cities; third, housing is a key variable for socio-spatial inequalities studies about urban space; forth, locational conditions of Minha Casa Minha Vida Program (PMCMV) social housing projects are a strong evidence of dissociation between public housing and urban policies. Our analysis object is a group of agribusiness cities spread over five Brazilian regions. The article has three leading questions: which elements stand out from urban structuring in those cities? How does housing take place by considering different space production agents? How have urban and housing policies been led in the past two decades? Then we develop our argumentation to support our theses.

Impacts of housing on health are well-recognised. Despite this, housing standards have been neglected and there are gaps in healthy housing policies, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Given the recent publication of the WHO Housing and health guidelines, and the need to implement these into policy at all scales, we carried out a focused search and thematic synthesis of available literature on the barriers and enablers to recent housing and health policy. We aimed to generate lessons of what works to support healthy housing policy development and implementation elsewhere. Twenty-three studies representing four countries were eligible for inclusion and covered housing-related risks of air quality, lead, accessible design, and housing conditions. Findings demonstrated that policy development and implementation were facilitated through awareness of housing and health, evidence of existing housing conditions and health impacts, collaborations across sectors and between residents and decision-makers and effective enforcement systems that employed incentives, tools such as certificates for compliance, and housing inspections. Concerns about economic viability and tensions between housing rights and responsibilities limited healthy housing policy for the ‘common good’. Despite limitations in the diversity of available evidence, this thematic synthesis provides a starting point for healthy and equitable housing for all.

Background The health and well-being of older people is significantly affected by housing, representing an essential aspect of preventative healthcare in the community. Good quality housing is an important factor in a person’s ability to maintain mental and physical health, as well as sustain optimal quality of life. This is particularly true for older people who may spend more time at home than other demographic groups. This study explores the linkages between housing conditions and the health and wellbeing of older people with the aim to inform housing designers, providers, and policy makers about the key aspects of healthy homes and common housing hazards, affecting older people. Methods The qualitative research programme involved an in-depth stakeholder engagement strategy, with activities including focus groups, diaries, and interviews to place the perspectives of older people at the centre of the work. The research also included a series of case study visits to the homes of patients of an Integrated Care Programme for Older People, where the research team conducted a series of qualitative semi-structured interviews with the patient, as well as a technical and quantitative survey of the home. Results Key themes identified throughout the research programme include overarching themes such as healthy ageing and housing and ageing in place; themes related to the hospital and integrated care, and the local authority; housing conditions and hazards; and built environment issues across the key spatial scales. Conclusion There is a need for better, more accessible data on the housing issues, conditions, and hazards for older people throughout Ireland. Additionally, it is essential to consider the needs of patients with additional care requirements, such as those living with dementia, as the built environment greatly impacts them.

We demonstrate how value considerations can be used to analyze an information ecology that has emerged to help homeless young people. We studied the information ecology of service agencies that assist homeless young people, age 13 to 25. We focused on printed materials used at the agencies and employed surveys and semi-structured interviews to gather data. Of the printed materials considered, a flier with a map of all programs was reported to be most important and distributed most frequently. Future work would further investigate distribution and usability of these portable information sources and the values they embody.

Housing policy is one of the urgent scientific and practical areas within legal research because it has not been updated since 1995, and actual housing relations have already received a new meaning. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the current situation and propose transformational approaches to housing policy. The study employs formal legal, statistical, and general scientific research methods, considering dialectical, synergistic, and axiological approaches. The main issue with Ukrainian housing policy is the absence of a modern concept guiding housing development and legal regulation. It is observed that the intensification of efforts to develop and adopt the principles of future state housing policy was conducted at the level of state authoritiesʼ activities. Based on the analysis of regulations in housing relations, it was determined that housing policy is part of a broader state policy – social policy. This is because it aims to meet the social interest – the need for housing. It is emphasised that housing policy is divided into national and regional housing policies. Particular attention is paid to the difficulty of restoring the destroyed housing facilities stock as a result of the war; it is suggested that a system of action be implemented to overcome the complicated situation in the housing sector. The study supports the idea of highlighting a specific area of modern housing policy in Ukraine, namely, ensuring the housing rights of vulnerable individuals, particularly those who have been forcibly evicted due to war. The study identifies specific areas of housing policy, including: the restoration of housing facilities (such as constructing new housing, compensating for destroyed housing, and conducting repair and construction works); devising an investment strategy for the housing sector; safeguarding citizensʼ housing rights; and revising housing legislation. These recommendations can be considered by the legislative and executive authorities when formulating a strategy and policy for the reconstruction of the housing stock of the state

Although former East Germany has had continuously shrinking populations for many years, flats have been simultaneously newly built and torn down nationwide, according to the development program of the Federal Government and the states. This housing policy was previously considered a negative development. The consequences of demographic change show parallel development of residential housing construction and demolition. This is not unusual, nor a negative development. The structures of demand and supply can deviate from each other due to changing population structure, especially because flats are immobile and durable consumer goods. The development of stable housing markets in shrinking areas is a special challenge for housing and public policy. This paper uses the example of Saxony to illustrate the challenges faced by regional housing markets where demographic change is occurring and discusses the background and connections. The current development of residential housing construction is unsatisfactory and vacancies are increasing, which leads to another question: how can future housing needs be satisfied while simultaneously avoiding the consumption of new land for housing?

The aim of this paper is to estimate the future medium and large housing needs of low-income renter households of Seoul Metropolitan Region (SMR), and to recommend housing policy responses to these needs. Using demographic methods, this study first projects the total housing needs of SMR, then decomposes them into the needs for different housing sizes by tenure and household expense using the household–housing size matrix. Between 2005 and 2015, approximately 360 000 medium and large rental housing units are needed. We argue that the Korean government should prioritise rental housing policy, and diminish the polarisation in housing conditions between the better off and the worse off.