Homelessness in Australia Should be Addressed Nationally
Homelessness is a state where an individual lacks secure, safe, and suitable housing. When one visualizes homelessness, often an image of an old man begging on the street wearing raggedy clothing comes to mind. However, what is less commonly visualized is the broad range of people that are left homeless due to multiple reasons. For example, a young family may find themselves homeless due to the parents becoming unemployed and hence facing extreme financial hardship. There are three main categories of homelessness. People can be categorized as homeless if they are living on the streets. This is referred to as primary homelessness. Homeless individuals may also be moving between temporary shelters, such as friends’ and family’s homes, and emergency housing. This is called secondary homelessness. The third form of homelessness is labeled as Tertiary Homelessness. This is where an individual lives in private boarding houses without a bathroom or a place to call home.
Australia is currently in the midst of a homelessness crisis. More than 116,000 people were estimated to be homeless in Australia in the 2016 census. This number is only increasing. Evident by the fact that the number of homeless people in Australia increased by more than 15,000, or 14 percent, in the five years to 2016, according to census data. I believe that the pressing issue of homelessness in Australia should be addressed on a national level. Whereby, the country should address the issue as a nation rather than taking on a global approach. I hold this view due to several reasons. From even just my personal travel experiences around the globe, homelessness looks different in different nations. National policies should be in place and should vary in each country and shouldn’t be the same around the globe. However, some hold the view that global urban planning initiatives are the way forward.
It should be addressed that homelessness is an issue that exists in almost every country around the globe. Around 2% of the world’s population is homeless. This equates to roughly 154 million people living on the streets, in makeshift shelters, in refugee camps, and other transitionary and frequently dangerous situations. Hence, some may argue that homelessness is an issue that should be addressed globally as it is an issue that the majority of countries are facing. One common idea is that a global effort would add value would by providing the structure for homelessness prevention and solutions to take place by connecting cities to do it together. It was suggested at the conference held at the India Habitat Center on ‘Homelessness: A Global Perspective help in’, that there is increasing interest and participation of architecture schools around the globe in homelessness issues. This includes examining the role of design, urban planning, and architecture in constructing urban space and the immanent conflicts in contemporary urban settings regarding the use of public space by the homeless. Whilst this concept of global architectural planning urban spaces for homeless individuals to reside in is an interesting and somewhat valid concept it brings us up main issue of not being specific enough. Whereby, each nation faces different circumstances in regards to their homelessness situations. Hence the solutions and architectural planning needs to be individualized and personalized for each nation. Not only is Australia’s homeless situation dissimilar to any other in the world, its overall landscape and urban sprawl are also dramatically different.
There is no doubt that if there was more affordable housing available, we could not only alleviate the economic hardship of hundreds of thousands of Australians but also decrease the country’s growing homeless population. However, a global plan that attempts to tackle this is not the way forward. As spoken about earlier, the reasons one may become homeless vary. This, therefore, means that the needs of homeless people vary. Australia is currently facing an increase in the number of families becoming homeless due to acts of domestic violence present in homes. If an urban planning initiative were to generalize and plan for the globe’s homeless issue, it may not address Australia’s need for more affordable family housing to house homeless families. A global approach may instead focus on building smaller apartments in the form of high-rise apartments. For a lot of cities around the globe that are facing a homelessness percentage increase, this may be warranted. Yet, in Australia, we are privileged to have a large amount of empty land not too far from the major cities. Whereby if Australia came together as a nation and formed a plan to use this land and build affordable accommodation, it could to provide housing to the increasing number of homeless families.
To add to this, the very shape of Australia’s cities reflects a particular hostility toward the homeless. Defensive architecture involves the physical creation of design components such as gated doorways, slanted chairs, or even microscopic metal spikes on surfaces. These defensive measures are in place in Australian cities to prevent homeless individuals from physically finding shelter in public settings. This could be considered a silent war waged against the country’s most vulnerable members. If Australia adressed homelessness and the urban planning that comes with it nationally, spaces could become more purposeful and potentially multi-purposeful. An old ballroom above flinders street station in the hustle and bustle of Melbourne City could be transformed into a space where those seeking a roof over their heads to rest at night. Rather than barricading our cities against their own residents, urban planning could be inclusive, reimagining how we use space to welcome those in need. In Paris, it is believed that the city bears moral and political responsibility for homelessness, which has led to the creation of several homelessness-related projects, such as the ‘Plan to Fight Social Exclusion,’ which sees vacant buildings repurposed for social purposes such as charities and temporary shelters. Many existing ancient buildings in poor places in Helsinki were converted into flats for the homeless. These are two examples where the nation has taken initiate to use their own individual land and space to house those in need rather than renting on a generalised and non-specific approach.
To conclude, whilst homelessness is an issue that most countries around the world face, Australia should address it nationally. This will allow for the individual needs and situation in the country to be successfully addressed through the use of specific policies and solutions. Solutions such as housing that suits the Australian landscape rather than the landscapes of other nations. Australia must form specific effective solutions for accommodation. In other words, the country should form its very own plans in regards to how they are going to combat homelessness and focus on building housing for those that are homeless. For the formation of accommodation to be truly effective, programs should be coordinated across a national system, targeted to the right subpopulations, and organized towards reaching a measurable target. This would not be achievable if homelessness was addressed as a global issue.
