Families experiencing homelessness and the production of everyday urban space in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2017-2022)

This article analyzes the production of space from the perspective of families experiencing homelessness who live in the Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Based on census data and twelve in-depth interviews carried out in 2022, it explores the demographic, the infrastructure they use daily, their reasons for staying in a particular place, their routines, their social networks, and finally, the way they outfit their living area. In terms of housing trajectories, the article shows how those families alternate between boarding houses, shelters, and the street. This vicious circle of poverty is reinforced by public policies that provide only temporary assistance to cover a boarding house room or shelter. The analysis draws on Henri Lefebvre’s notion of “the production of space” and his triad of conceived, lived and perceived space as well as Angela Giglia’s concept of “inhabiting” [habitar].