Dalla migrazione alla strada

e capitale sociale informale attraverso routine quotidiane e relazioni con luoghi e attori urbani. In questo quadro, gli interventi di allontanamento e sgombero, spesso giustificati in nome del decoro urbano, risultano poco efficaci nel governo del fenomeno, mentre sarebbe più proficuo ripensare ad approcci centrati sul lavoro sociale di prossimità. [Testo dell'editore]

The article analyses the condition of people experiencing homelessness on the basis of an empirical study conducted in 2023, with particular attention to migratory trajectories and the ways urban space is used. The findings show that homelessness is characterised by high levels of mobility, which can be distinguished into "stable", "seasonal" and "transitory" forms, as well as by differentiated pathways into street homelessness. In particular, three recurring profiles emerge among foreign nationals: individuals exiting asylum reception systems without achieving autonomy; people in situations of legal irregularity, excluded from access to employment and public services; and individuals whose socio-economic integration pathways have been interrupted following the loss of a residence permit. The article also highlights how, despite the absence of a material dwelling (house), people experiencing homelessness develop practices of symbolic appropriation of public space, reconstructing forms of home and informal

social capital through daily routines and relationships with places and urban actors. Within this framework, eviction and displacement measures, often justified in the name of urban decorum, appear to be largely ineffective in governing the phenomenon, whereas approaches centred on proximity-based social work would prove more productive. [Publisher's Text]