'It Can Happen to Everyone': The Role of Guided Walking Tours in Reframing Homelessness

The Paulus Church is besides a church, a shelter that provides services for the more vulnerable groups in society. As of October 2025, they have started to organize guided walking tours, showing participants the reality of homelessness in Rotterdam. This study explores how city tours organised by the Paulus Church and (ex) homeless people in Rotterdam can increase public awareness and destigmatise homelessness. More specifically, this study investigates the city tour as an activist strategy of the Paulus Church, looking at the role of storytelling, and the experiences of tour guides and participants. The research was conducted using qualitative field observations, interviews, and document analysis. The findings of the research show that the tour plays a role in the destigmatisation of homelessness at three different levels. At the organization level, the tours can be regarded as an effective activist strategy, having attracted a lot of media attention and contributing to meaningful participation. At the interpersonal level, research shows that the city tour breaks with ‘the tourist gaze’ by functioning as a ‘zone of encounter’ that encourages participants to reflect on their prejudices when it comes to homelessness. In the destigmatisation of homelessness, storytelling was found to be an important factor, with stories being able to evoke both reflex- and moral emotions. At the personal level, the tour plays a complex role in empowering of tour guides. While the tours give the guides a sense of recognition, agency, and collective belonging, there are also times when the guides feel uncomfortable. Altogether, the city tour can be seen as an effective strategy in raising awareness and destigmatising homelessness but adequate support for the tour guides is needed to ensure the emotional labour remains manageable.