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Habiter sans-abri au féminin

What does it mean to live without a roof over your head as a woman in Brussels? How do you experience the city when public space is your only refuge? And how can research contribute to greater recognition and meaningful systemic change?

With her project Habiter sans-abri au féminin, Elisabetta Rosa, professor of urban planning at UCLouvain, studied how women without shelter navigate, perceive, and give meaning to the urban environment. A project that combined policy impact, social engagement and audiovisual creation.

Making a forgotten group visible

“Women without shelter are almost invisible—in statistics and in policy,” says Elisabetta Rosa. Her project built on a previous research phase about homelessness in general. It quickly became clear that female homelessness is a largely overlooked reality, with its own specific vulnerabilities and dynamics.

That insight marked the starting point for a study on how women without a home move through the city, how they experience public space, and how that experience is shaped by what they fear, long for or avoid.

Research in times of crisis

'Habiter sans-abri au féminin' was funded by Innoviris through the Brains for Brussels programme, which supports the attraction and anchoring of research talent in the Brussels academic landscape. The project began just before the outbreak of COVID-19. As the city went into lockdown, people without shelter remained in public space. Women became more visible, which led to the creation of temporary support measures such as hotel facilities.

In one of these hotels, Elisabetta Rosa conducted in-depth fieldwork. She collected stories, observed daily routines and gained unique insights into an extremely fragile reality.

Participatory and creative: giving voice

The project went beyond traditional research methods. Thanks to support from Innoviris and collaborations with artists, Rosa was also able to produce audiovisual work that brought their stories to a broader audience.

"I created a podcast with the women. Not just to listen, but to give them a voice."

Impact on the city and on a career

Habiter sans-abri au féminin had an impact on multiple levels. First, it contributed to the institutional debate on gender-sensitive homelessness care. It also gave the women involved a chance to be heard. And finally, through creative formats, it reached beyond the academic world.

The project also had personal significance for the researcher. “Thanks to the support of Innoviris through Brains for Brussels, I was able to carry out this research, strengthen my academic career, and secure a permanent position. That was my dream.”

What’s next?

Urban space and mental health. During her fieldwork, Elisabetta Rosa found that psychological suffering was indeed a reality for many of the women she met. “Sometimes mental vulnerability was a result of life on the streets, sometimes it was the cause.”