CARDBOARD CITY

noun (People and Society) An area of a large town where homeless people congregate at night under makeshift shelters made from discarded cardboard boxes and other packing materials. Etymology: Formed by compounding: a city made from cardboard. History and Usage: A phenomenon of the eighties, and an increasing problem in large cities both in the UK and in the US. Sometimes written with capital initials, as though it were a place-name in its own right. This is not a country where families can live under bridges or in 'cardboard cities' while the rest of us have our turkey dinner. Washington Post 23 Dec. 1982, section A, p. 16 In The Trackers of Oxyrhyncus...the people of Cardboard City erupt on to the stage. These are the men and women, some old and some very young, who live beneath the arches on the South Bank. Independent Magazine 19 May 1990, p. 14