Interactional contributions of homeless people to urban sustainability

Abstract

Is it possible to envisage within the socially controversial issue of homelessness any contributions for the United Nations (UN) urban-sustainability agenda? We address this question in interpretive terms based on methodological procedures that enhance the deployment of social-scientific qualitative methods in transdisciplinary research projects – i.e., collaborative projects between academics and practitioners – regarding the so-called UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We argue that the contributions comprise patterns of face-to-face interaction by and around homeless people in public spaces. Regarding particularly SDG 11 (“make cities and urban settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”) in Covid-19 São Paulo (2020-2022), the contributions encompass three types of interaction: (i) environmentally sustainable and (ii) environmentally inclusive interactions by homeless people with material objects, animals, and plants in streets and squares; and (iii) socially inclusive interactions by practitioners who assist homeless people. While the first two interactional types are already ongoing, present-day involuntary contributions to SDG 11 Targets 11.6 and 11.7, the third type features as a future possibility by practitioners for Target 11.1.

Keywords:
social interaction; homelessness; urban sustainability (SDG 11); interactional space; transdisciplinarity