ABSTRACT

For individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness, acting out their lives in public spaces can be complicated, as their very existence might be viewed as a transgression of a spaces’ conceptualization [Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space. London: Blackwell.]. Within this paper, through the work of Henri Lefebvre and Don Mitchell, I examine the ways in which representations of public outdoor spaces in cities impact the lived experiences of those who engage with the sites as a means of survival. Through this work, I argue that the right to be is reliant on an individual’s ability to acceptably (re)produce spaces as they were conceived, or to otherwise be forced to exist in marginal spaces [Mitchell, D., and N. Heynen. 2009. “The Geography of Survival and the Right to the City: Speculation on Surveillance, Legal Innovation, and the Criminalization of Intervention.” Urban Geography 30 (6): 611–632. doi:10.2747/0272-3638.30.6.611; Snow, D., and M. Mulcahy. 2001. “Space, Politics, and the Survival Strategies of the Homeless.” American Behavioral Scientist 45 (1): 149–169. doi:10.1177/00027640121956962]. The empirical insights in this work emerged from nine months of field work at Start Me Up Niagara, a community centre in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, which works with people experiencing poverty and homelessness.

摘要

对于经历贫困和无家可归的人来说，在公共空间中表现他们的生活可能很复杂，因为他们的存在本身可能被视为对空间概念化的超越 [Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space. 伦敦：布莱克威尔。]。在本文中，通过 Henri Lefebvre 和 Don Mitchell 的工作，我研究了城市中公共户外空间的表现形式如何影响那些将这些场所作为生存手段的人们的生活体验。通过这项工作，我认为存在权依赖于个人可接受（再）生产空间的能力，或者被迫存在于边缘空间中的能力 [Mitchell, D. 和 N. Heynen。2009. “生存地理和城市权利：关于监视、法律创新和干预犯罪化的推测。” 城市地理30 (6): 611–632。doi:10.2747/0272-3638.30.6.611; Snow, D. 和 M. Mulcahy。2001.“空间、政治和无家可归者的生存策略”。美国行为科学家45 (1): 149–169。doi:10.1177/00027640121956962]。这项工作的经验见解来自于在加拿大安大略省圣凯瑟琳斯的社区中心 Start Me Up Niagara 进行的九个月的实地工作，该中心与经历贫困和无家可归的人一起工作。