Homelessness in the Public Landscape: A Typology of Informal Infrastructure

People experiencing homelessness struggle to find a place in the city. With public spaces mostly devoted to infrastructure (for cars), civic identity, and recreation, few spaces remain for the unhoused. Cities regulate behavior in more visible public spaces to prevent loitering, sleeping, and sometimes sitting and eating. Given the scarcity of welcoming public spaces for people experiencing homelessness, it is unclear where they live and whether these spaces are providing what they need. To uncover how people experiencing homelessness use landscapes, I mapped the location of people along urban transects in three California cities: Sacramento, Oakland, and Santa Cruz. I interviewed people who are unhoused in these cities regarding their daily movements. The mapping and interviews resulted in a typology of public spaces of homelessness. This research found that although many people experiencing homelessness inhabit urban parks and sidewalks around social service centers, they also frequent places formed by and adjacent to transportation infrastructure. People experiencing homelessness creatively appropriate public transportation infrastructure as living areas to socialize, rest, and manage their visibility. I argue that the redesign of infrastructure should consider the preservation of edge conditions and informal spaces to provide public space for people experiencing homelessness.