Housing, Homelessness, and Social Policy in the Urban North

Housing, Homelessness, and Social Policy in the Urban North brings together leading scholars on northern urban housing across Alaska, the Canadian north, and Greenland.

Through various case studies, contributors examine the ways in which housing insecurity and homelessness provide a critical lens on the social dimensions of northern urbanisation. They also present key considerations in the development of effective and sustainable social policy for these areas.

The book kickstarts a conversation between multiple stakeholders from different cultural and national regions across the North American north. It asks key questions including: What are the common problems of, and responses to, housing insecurity and homelessness across these northern regions? Is a single definition of 'homelessness' even possible, or desirable? And if not, can a shared language around how to end the housing crisis and homelessness in our northern regions still occur?

The contributors explore how experiences of northern towns and cities inform an overall understanding of urban forms and processes in the contemporary world, and speak directly to the emerging body of literature on cities. Highlighting key limitations to federal, state, and provincial policy, Housing, Homelessness, and Social Policy in the Urban North raises important implications for developing policy that is responsive to northern realities.

"Spanning Indigenous territories in what is now northern Canada, Alaska, and Greenland, contributors to this volume demonstrate the power of looking at urban configurations across northern contexts for shared themes and experiences of housing insecurity and homelessness. A call for understanding lived experiences and building policy solutions that fit the diverse social, historical, and economic contexts of homelessness in northern spaces, this volume will be of interest to diverse groups of scholars, students, policymakers, and leaders interested in social processes in the circumpolar North, as well as to northern housing and homelessness advocates who may see their struggles and successes reflected back to them in these pages."--Sara V. Komarnisky, Research Chair, Health and Community, Aurora College
"Equally humanistic and practical in its approach, this much-needed volume explores the complexities of northern homelessness in the Canadian North, Alaska, and Greenland. With equal emphasis on policy, practice, history, and lived experiences of homelessness, the contributions to this book work together to create a robust portrait of the effects of colonialism on the circumpolar world. It attends to rural-urban geographies of displacement and belonging in ways that will make lasting impacts on how these social issues can and should be addressed."--Lindsay Bell, Department of Anthropology, Western University
"A groundbreaking volume examining housing and homelessness across the circumpolar north, calling into question received ideas about how and why northerners experience homelessness and what to do about it. Includes both regional and thematic analyses to help readers think through connections across diverse geographies. A must-read for northern scholars and policymakers."--Emilie Cameron, Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University

Julia Christensen is an associate professor of geography and planning at Queen's University.

Sally Carraher is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Travis Hedwig is an associate professor of health sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Steven Arnfjord is an associate professor of social work and the director of Ilisimatusarfik's Centre for Arctic Welfare at the University of Greenland.

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