In the last decades, and especially after the outbreak of the economic crisis of 2010, we see a rapid increase in the phenomenon of homelessness throughout the Western world and in Greece in particular. Under a regime of extreme economic liberalism, where individuality and consumerism are promoted , societies experience an economic as well as social-ethical crisis, as the welfare state collapses and human relations are disrupted.
In order to understand how today's reality has been shaped and the causes that have led to the current housing crisis, an effort has been made to analyze developments concerning both city and dwelling, as well as society in a wider context, in recent years. This review and the analysis of the general socio-political context aims at realizing that both the wider social situation, and the homelessness phenomenon in particular, although multifactorial relations, are rooted in the more general neo-liberal policy which is been promoted. As these are interdependent relationships, the boundaries of transition from one to the other are often discreet. This helps to make it more understandable that we are talking about a dynamic field of relationships where nothing works autonomously and independently, but there is great connection between them.
On the basis of the above theoretical frame, the relationship between the city and the homeless is investigated, both on the regulatory side of the city and on the perspective of the people living in it. Extensively, it is analyzed how the territorial exclusion is promoted and imprinted in the city's field, through legislative arrangements and design practices, depositing the "unnecessary" populations and those who do not serve the interests of capitalism. Respectively, it is examined how the homeless themselves try through of the tactics they apply to overcome this treaty and to shape their everyday lives in order to survive in the urban space.