Contested Landscapes of Homelessness in Athens

Abstract

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.