Mobile homeless : vehicle-living, off-grid connection, and the building of an informal home

Research on informal housing has predominantly focused on formations occurring in the Global South, with less empirical focus on the Global North. Utilizing data from qualitative interviews with people practicing vehicle-living in the Metro Vancouver region, this study diverges from the Global South approach, by examining how individuals living out of their vehicles attempt to connect to the urban technological grid, and how these intermittent connections help people build and recreate a sense of home within makeshift, “illegitimate” living spaces. The results of this study contribute to the sociological literature on vehicle-living and housing inequalities, and helps expand the field of informal housing studies through the exploration of a form of mobile makeshift housing occurring within the specific material and socio-economic conditions of the Global North.Arts, Faculty ofSociology, Department ofGraduat