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This paper unravels the relations between different categories of the informal economy and their spatial distribution in the geographical setting of Brussels. Micro perspectives (households as economic agents) and macro perspectives (the informal economy related to economic recession) are combined in order to deal with categories of informal activities which are homogenous in terms of their spatial logic. In the first part we review several classifications of informal economic activities and assess them in terms of their congruence with the distinctions of economic actors and spatial logic. The second part elaborates on the raisons d'�tre of three large categories of informal economic activities in relation to urban development and on the production environments of these activities in Brussels: the domestic sector and suburban development; economic recession and survival strategies in the inner city; and, finally, flexibility and informalization in urban light industry. Polanyi's concept of modes of economic integration (market, redistribution and reciprocity) offers a powerful tool to understand informal economic activities as a set of interrelations between households and other economic actors in order to gain access to their living resources Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1999.

Although Belgian poverty is mainly concentrated in urban regions, the profound restructuring of labour and food markets, the dismantling of the welfare state and the growth of new types of households are also producing poverty and social exclusion in rural areas. This paper stresses that not every deprived rural household should be regarded as excluded from society. By developing survival strategies, households attempt to escape from social marginalization. To understand these responses, a typology of survival strategies is constructed, based on Polanyi’s spheres of economic integration (market exchange, redistribution and reciprocity). These survival strategies, including agricultural and non‐agricultural activities, are analysed in relation to the Hageland,a peripheral rural area in Flanders. Based upon Doreen Massey’s geological metaphor, the current potentials and obstacles embedded in the historical layers of the socio‐spatial structure of the area, are assessed. By comparing the results of this research with similar research amongst urban households, some particularities of rural poverty are distinguished.

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The rise of poverty in Western societies can be explained by three socio‐economic processes: the dualisation and polarisation of the labour market, the dismantling of the welfare state, and the increase of new types of households like single parents and singles. These processes are interrelated and they lead towards different mechanisms of social exclusion. This article stresses that not everyone excluded from the labour market, welfare provisions, or social networks has to be regarded as excluded from society. By developing survival strategies in different economic systems (market, reciprocity, associative redistribution) poor households try to escape from social marginalisation. The whole of their survival strategies is analysed in five different settings in and around Brussels. It is argued that these areas offer very different opportunities for social integration and community development, essentially related to the heterogeneity of the environment and the social cohesion of the population concerned.

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In this paper we deal with the geography of pathways through homelessness, developed by households who live in holiday parks in the rural southern part of Belgium (Wallonia). The paper aims to provide insights into the motivations and objectives of the homeless themselves and to identify structural obstacles that risk reproducing homelessness. After a conceptual introduction, we present our research methodology, which combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The following section then briefly describes the socio-historical background of three permanently inhabited holiday parks, which serve as case studies for this paper. The empirical results focus on the geography of pathways, stressing housing situations before and beyond permanent habitation of holiday parks. We conclude by arguing that a collective and holistic policy is needed to fight homelessness.