How Hostile Architecture Alienates Us All

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Via https://www.streetroots.org/news/2019/06/07/you-are-not-welcome-here-anti-homeless-architecture-crops-nationwide

Hostile architecture is urban design which intentionally restricts the ways in which people can use public spaces, and is often used to deter homeless people from occupying an area. Examples include spikes installed on flat surfaces, armrests dividing the seats of benches, and sloped or curved seating. These designs may seem harmless at first glance, but they quietly send a message to the people who wish to use that space: “You aren’t welcome here.”


Hostile architecture is installed largely in response to “undesirable” behavior in public spaces, such as loitering, sleeping or camping. Cities and property owners often claim it helps keep spaces “clean,” “safe,” or “functional,” but in reality, these designs do not solve the underlying issues. Countless homeless people have no choice but to sleep in public spaces because there are more homeless people than there are beds in homeless shelters, and instead of addressing this issue, hostile architecture focuses only on removing these people from view. It puts a bandaid over the blight of urban poverty while ignoring the causes, treating homeless people not as members of the community whom we wish to help, but as problems to be managed or hidden. 


Hostile architecture does not affect only the homeless. It makes the community unwelcoming for all, with a lack of places to comfortably sit during long walks, areas that are difficult to navigate for those with limited mobility, and parks that feel more like surveillance zones than places to relax or gather. When we allow public infrastructure to be shaped by fear or contempt rather than empathy, we destroy spaces that are meant to foster connection and community, and we end up creating cities that are cold, inaccessible, and fundamentally unjust.


We need to push back against hostile architecture by advocating for design that is functional and welcoming. That means supporting public benches that are accessible, homeless shelters instead of spikes, and parks built for rest and recreation. Cities should be designed with the goal of being a pleasant place to inhabit, but hostile architecture undermines this entirely. A step we must take towards improving our collective quality of life in our cities is to design our infrastructure in a way which does not alienate the homeless. We cannot view them as nuisances, but as neighbors.




How to fight back against hostile architecture:

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=0&article=1002&context=environ_justice&type=additional 




Read more:

https://www.melbournezero.org.au/hostile_architecture_is_bad_for_our_city_s_health


https://vce.usc.edu/volume-7-issue-1/hostile-architecture-the-ethical-problem-of-design-as-a-means-of-exclusion/


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