The 15 Most

Homeless
Cities In The
World
Reagan M. 03.03.15 The Poorest

Homelessness is far from a developing countrys problem. In Europe

alone, there are 3 million people on the streets. In Australia and
Canada, hundreds of thousands of people are homeless. Of course,
the problem is much worse in poorer countries. There are over 9.5
million homeless people in Columbia and 24.4 million in Nigeria. In
total, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights estimates that
the world has 100 million homeless people.

How do people end up on the streets? Job losses, foreclosures,

unemployment, and lack of affordable housing all play a part. Social
factors can also be part of the problem; domestic violence, lack of a
supportive family, drug abuse, alcoholism and mental illnesses all
contribute to homelessness.

Finding a solution to the homelessness problem has been hard for

many cities, states and countries. The current New York mayor has a
notoriously tough time reducing the number of cluster sites in his city.
Some cities, like Moscow, have no programs in place to fight the
problem despite the numbers of homeless people growing steadily.
Other cities such as Phoenix and San Francisco have put measures in
place to reduce homelessness, such as newspapers which are given
to the homeless population to sell and earn a living.

Some cities are struggling much more than others, and some are
overwhelmed by levels of poverty. These fifteen cities have bigger
homeless populations than anywhere else in the world.

15. Athens, Greece

Homelessness in Greece has significantly increased to 20,000

homeless people in recent years. About 50% of the homeless
population roams the streets of Athens. A high rate of homelessness in
this, the home of Aristotle and Plato, is largely down to the aggressive
recession that hit Greece during the Global Financial Crisis.
14. Phoenix, Arizona,
United States

By the end of 2014, there were 11,314 homeless people in Phoenix

Arizona. The Phoenix Rescue Mission suggests that the main reasons
people end up homeless are foreclosures, job losses and evictions.
13. San Francisco,
Northern California,
United States

The Coalition on Homelessness reported that 10,373 people were

housed in emergency shelters in San Francisco in 2013.

2. Washington, D.C.,
United States
Despite being the capital of the most powerful nation on earth,
Washington, D.C. harbors many homeless people. D.C., formally the
District of Columbia, faces crippling homelessness with over 57,000
people on the streets.
11. Boston,
Massachusetts,
United States

Boston is the third major city in the US with the highest number of
homeless people. It also has the highest number of people living in
emergency shelters 16,540, to be precise.

10. Sao Paulo, Brazil

A 2011 government census shows that
there are in excess of 15,000 homeless
people in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sao Paulo is
the most populous city in Brazil, as well as
in the Americas.
Life on these streets as a homeless person
is excruciating. Approximately 50% of the
homeless people in Sao Paulo are housed
in emergency camps, but the other half, the
one that gets it hard, sleeps on the streets.
They are forced to face notoriously harsh
treatment from Brazilian authorities.
9. Budapest, Hungary

ts technically illegal to be homeless in

Hungary. The parliament of Hungary
introduced this law to forcefully move
an increasing number of homeless people
into shelters.
Budapest has 10,000 homeless people, and
the 6,000 people that roam the streets can
now be charged and possibly face jail time.
The law shocked human rights groups,
since unemployment and debt rates are
sharply increasing. There are 20,000 more
homeless people throughout Hungary.
8. Buenos Aires,
Argentina

Buenos Aires has an estimated 15,000 homeless people. Sadly, 30%

are children and 13% are elderly
7. Mumbai, India

Mumbai has a population of almost 12.5 million. Over half of these

residents live in one of the many thousands of slums in Mumbai.
6. Jakarta, Indonesia

Indonesia has higher Twitter activity than any other city in the world.
Most residents here also have two phones each. Despite all these
advancements, Jakarta is also home to over 28,000 people living
rough.
5. Mexico City,
Mexico

Mexico City is home to over 30,000 homeless people. A disturbing

50% are children, and poverty is the main reason so many children do
not have a roof over their heads.
4. Moscow, Russia

3.4% of the population in Russia is homeless. Tens of thousands of the

homeless population is in Moscow. Researchers place the number of
homeless people in Russia at 1.5 3 million. Homelessness in this
country has been the norm since World War II.
3. Los Angeles,
California, United
States

The streets of Los Angeles are home to over

57,000 destitute people.
The majority are male and single, and half of
these homeless people are African
American despite the fact that the black
population only accounts for 9% of L.A.s
total population.
2. New York City,
New York, United
States

There are 60,352 people without a roof

under their heads in the Big Apple.
This number includes 25,640 children.
22,386 are adults and over 12,326 are
single. These numbers have continued to
rise steadily regardless of the campaign
promises by the new mayor Bill de Blasio.
1. Manila, Philippines

Manila, Philippines has the highest homelessness rate in the world.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights reports that this city
has 70,000 dispossessed people on its streets. The commission also
reports that the entire country has a distressing 1,200,000 children
living on the streets.