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Rooflessness in London
Author(s) -
Dowding Keith,
King Desmond
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.2000.tb02036.x
Subject(s) - metropolitan area , government (linguistics) , politics , welfare , public administration , state (computer science) , political science , term (time) , sociology , political economy , geography , law , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , algorithm , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics
Rooflessness in London emerged as a media issue and political problem during the 1980s. While “rough sleeping” undoubtedly increased, numbers are hard to quantify because studies are unreliable, use different categories, and people seamlessly drift from one category to another. This article analyzes the causes of rooflessness in London, focusing on central government policy change at a time when London, atypically among major cities, had no overarching metropolitan government. The creation of multiple quasi‐governmental agencies and charities whose responsibilities for homelessness overlap does not help coordination. Many short‐term initiatives have been attempted, but solving rooflessness may require more radical changes if endemic homelessness is not to be the condition of the post‐welfare state.