Urban (in) Security and Assessment of Extreme Poverty: Residents’ Perception Referring to Homelessness in Bucharest

In the current global economic situation, poverty stands out as a growing concern with multiple territorial aspects. Poverty is to be found both in developing and developed countries with certain differences of classification, typology, magnitude, importance, but nevertheless with some fundamental common characteristics. Homelessness represents the most extreme manifestation of poverty in urban areas. The perception of the community referring to homeless people was evaluated through 150 social surveys among residents in 18 pre-identified areas in Bucharest. Residents’ security and local reasons of insecurity are used as a perception differentiation instrument in the analysis. Results reflect that homelessness has a high territorial visibility in Bucharest. The phenomenon is recognized as continuously increasing, referring to territorial distribution and affected urban areas, depth and effects on different categories of population and need for more specifically directed policies and action.