Progression or regression? The influence of media and political narratives at a time of national climate-housing challenges

This study explores the convergence of homelessness and climate hazards within media and political discourse, focusing on three key questions: a) How did media outlets differ in their portrayal of clearing of the Zone, a downtown Phoenix encampment; b) to what extent did Phoenix’s Safe Outdoor Space feature in local media narratives of homelessness during this time; and c) how was exposure to environmental hazards, specifically heat and air pollution, included in the political and media narratives surrounding homelessness during the clearing of the Zone and creation of the Safe Outdoor Space? These questions are examined through a conceptual and empirical analysis of public discourse related to the Zone and the Safe Outdoor Space, drawing on data from Phoenix, Arizona’s local media outlets from January to December 2023. Our findings highlight the sociopolitical dynamics of narrative building around interventions for homelessness and underscore how environmental hazards are often an undertone—rather than a cornerstone—of media depictions of homelessness in the American Southwest.