Where life and leisure intersect: exploring the outdoors as a site of contradictory experiences for person’s living in poverty

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Poverty
• homelessness
• leisure
• space
• physical cultural studies
• outdoors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In this paper, the italicized word public will be used to acknowledge the difference between the blanket term ‘public’, and those who are actually conceptualized as being a part of the ‘public’. The italicized public is one that does not recognize the existence of the poor and homeless, or is non-inclusive of the population.

2 Throughout this paper, I will refer to poverty and the poor simultaneously, understanding that definitions of poverty themselves are fluid and subject to examination.

3 Susan Venditti, the executive director of Start Me Up Niagara asked that her name, and the real name of the organization be used within writings and publications in order to bolster both the successes and failings of a community outreach centre created specifically for persons experiencing hardships. Institutional Ethics were resubmitted, and approved, to accommodate her request.

4 Mitchell (2017, 1995) states that public spaces can act as safe havens for the homeless and destitute, but he is quick to acknowledge that this does not necessarily mean that individuals will have safe experiences within the space.

5 One of the 18 interviews occurred with two individuals because they wanted to be interviewed but declined to be interviewed alone.

6 The requirement for participants to treat staff members with respect was often a moving target, and some individuals were given leniency based on their mental health, whether they were intoxicated, and how well staff knew the participant. Violence towards staff was the only never acceptable action within SMUN.

7 One local business owner was recently quoted in a CBC News article as stating that the encampments that had been created in downtown Toronto at George Hislop and Norman Jewison Parks were “‘traumatic’ for residents and businesses. Additionally, “he noted that residents had no access to green space because the people in tents had taken it over (Draaisma 2020).” The encampment was cleared by city workers, and those who had been living there were sent, by city transit, to shelters in downtown Toronto, North York, and Scarborough.

8 Local newspaper headlines in the St. Catharines Standard read, ‘Plight of Niagara’s homeless worsened by the pandemic’ (October 17, 2020) and ‘Massive homeless camp cleaned up in St. Catharines’ (September 21, 2020).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teresa Hill

Teresa Hill is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her research focuses on examining physical activity, well-being, and contextualizing spaces in the lives of people experiencing poverty. Additional research interests policy and community development, specifically through the lens of poverty reduction. Teresa's work is primarily situated within qualitative and community-based epistemologies.