Peer review on homelessness policies in Athens City (Greece)

Abstract

This paper reviews homelessness policies and service provision in the city of Athens, Greece, in the context of wider European developments and potential comparisons with other European cities. This is the fifth in a series of peer reviews of city homelessness policies in Europe, mediated through the HABITACT European Exchange Forum on local homelessness strategies. The city of Athens presents a valuable case study of policy responses developed to deal with the impact of severe economic crisis on homelessness. Drawing on an earlier review of homelessness policies and service provision in Europe (Anderson, 2010), the conceptual approach of examining policies which support pathways out of homelessness, and prevent homelessness from occurring, is adopted to structure the analysis. The discussion paper begins by setting the context of responses to homelessness at the European level. It then examines homelessness in relation to the Greek national context, before providing an overview of key elements of homelessness policy and service provision in Athens city with a view to characterising the Athens model. The detailed case study of homelessness policy in Athens is then compared with the wider research evidence base across other European countries in order to identify potential for transferability of elements of the Athens model to other local contexts. The discussion paper concludes by formulating key questions about the Athens model for consideration in the peer review meeting.