The complex mobilities of homeless people in rural England

Re-populating rural studies: Migrations, movements and mobilities

“…I also feel that some of the issues raised by Hoggart's paper are worthy of further discussion. While his analysis does contradict certain assumptions within the rural studies literature about the forced displacement of working-class group from rural areas, it also reinforces findings from other qualitative studies of poverty and homelessness in rural places, which point to the complexity of movements of disadvantaged people across rural (and urban) spaces (see Fitchen, 1994;Milbourne, 2004;Cloke et al, 2003). While one strategy devised by poor and homeless groups to deal with their problems is to relocate to places that offer improved employment, housing and welfare service opportunities, these relocations tend to involve short distance moves up the rural settlement hierarchy rather than moves to more distant cities.…”

“…Given the continuation of population out-migration, it is somewhat surprising that it has not been researched more extensively in the UK. Indeed, beyond the odd study (Stockdale, 2004) and passing references in publications on poverty and social exclusion in rural areas (Milbourne, 2004;Cloke et al, 1994Cloke et al, , 2003Rugg and Jones, 1999), there has been a strange neglect of population movements out of rural areas. While some of this neglect results from methodological difficulties associated with researching subjects who are no longer present in rural places, it is clear that further research is required on the persistence of out-migration amongst particular groups and in particular places, and the roles of economic, housing and socio-cultural factors in influencing these movements.…”

Between Rural and Urban Slums: A Geography of Pathways Through Homelessness

“…More specifically, households who eventually settled at the Domaine du Mayeur and the Domaine des Grands Horizons had occupied a house near the holiday parks before they made the step into the caravans and chalets of these two mostly deprived areas. As our interviews with settlers confirmed, the most deprived section of the rural housing market serves as one of the last housing possibilities for households who had escaped from urban slums, before they relocate to small-scale rural slums, such as Walloon holiday parks (see also Cloke et al, 2003 for similar findings in England).…”

The periphery of care: Emergency services for homeless people in rural areas

“…For example, Cloke et al (2003) emphasise the different kinds of mobilities engaged in by homeless people in a rural context. The stereotypical expectation is that homeless people will move away from villages and small towns and migrate to larger urban settlements, which are recognised somehow as approved and appropriate spaces for meeting their needs.…”