When viewing the problem of homelessness through the lens of decision theory, it is necessary to identify possible factors influencing agents’ decisions. To define the apparent confounders is easy; nonetheless, finding the least obvious ones is a more important task because it allows discovering prospective ways to mitigate existing risk and ensure the desired outcome.
Urban planning development largely depends on the current state of the housing market. There is an abundance of evidence of a direct and indirect relationship between the inexpensive hosing deficiency and consequent homelessness (Rossi, 2013). The housing market dominated by massive real estate owners would never be able to offer an opportunity to people with low or absent income. Therefore, the urban planning should be revised regarding those private providers’ interests: the risk of failure for future city development would strongly increase in the areas of possible economic concern.
The question of the homelessness prevalence is still unclear. Most common estimates indicate that there is at least one percent of homeless people in the United States (Erickson & Wilhelm, 2017), which currently comprises more than three million people. Consequently, every big city experiences severe difficulties with homeless population concentrated in certain areas. While simple zoning can provide basic information for urban planning, it is ineffective in determining real city needs and building successful communities (Dear & Wolch, 2014). Locating multiple shelters throughout the city regardless of pedestrians’ spatial patterns would not be sufficient as well. However, modern technologies, including geographic information systems, could provide useful insight into the task of urban optimization.
Taking into account all relevant factors in conjunction is necessary for the goal of decreasing the level of uncertainty in any existing model of urban optimization. The issues with homelessness require more careful approach than building more shelters. An effective strategy should direct market players’ interests toward social gain.
References
Dear, M. J., & Wolch, J. R. (2014). Landscapes of despair: From deinstitutionalization to homelessness. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Erickson, J., Wilhelm, C. (2017). Housing the homeless. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Rossi, P. H. (2013). Down and out in America: The origins of homelessness. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.