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Visible Homelessness in a “Liveable City”: Municipal Responses to Homelessness in Melbourne
Author(s) -
Petty James,
Young Alison
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/ajes.12321
Subject(s) - confiscation , prosperity , population , public administration , economic growth , order (exchange) , political science , sociology , business , law , economics , finance , demography
Despite considerable national and urban prosperity, significant numbers of Australians are homeless. How local governments engage with homelessness has significant implications for the homeless population. In recent years, municipal strategies have inclined towards the maintenance of public order at the cost of the rights of homeless individuals. In this article, we investigate the approach to homelessness proposed by the City of Melbourne in 2017, which centered on the expansion of powers to remove individuals and the confiscation of possessions, testing the council’s claims as to the impact of visible homelessness upon local businesses and upon other users of public spaces.