Meanings of public space and exclusion of the homeless as a process of forced mobility

Abstract

Throughout history, homeless people have been associated with nomadism and with itinerant poverty. This paper aims to show that the social exclusion which affects those who live on the streets takes the form of a process of forced mobility. Firstly, the paper considers the factors or agents that promote this forced mobility, and then reflects on the legal measures that seek to give coherence to the various attempts that have been made to remove homeless people from certain places. These «anti-homeless laws» purport to promote a more effective regulation of public space. At present, however, the forced mobility of homeless people is related to the current predominance of certain narrow definitions of public space.