In her third piece on homelessness and informal settlements in the US, Martha Bridegam describes Dignity Village in Portland, Oregon, and other settlements across the country which are setting out to prove that informal housing can be just as peaceful, lawful and neighbourly as any other residential area.
Martha Bridegam describes a recent increase in criminalising legislation and policing against homeless and informally housed Americans but asks, is this a short-term backlash against changes in the nature of US housing?
We tend to believe that wealthy countries don't have informal settlements. Not only is this false, but it allows western governments to further marginalise an already misunderstood community.
Witness' documentary People Before Profit portrays forced evictions around the world, expressing the trauma that citizens feel when their homes and possessions are violently taken from them.
While most are aware of the need for education and prevention, Noemi Reiner of ARCHIVE highlights the need for stable housing for people living with HIV/AIDS to lower transmission rates and reduce the physical and emotional risks of disease and stress.
Martha Bridegam is a lawyer and writer in San Francisco with a history of volunteer advocacy for informally housed city residents.
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
