Anti-Homeless Architecture: A social problem

What are Anti-Homeless designs?

They are structures designed to exclude the homeless. 

It is an act of prejudice against the homeless, as these designs serve to keep the homeless away. 

Many of the homeless live on the streets with difficulties, humiliation, and anxiety, with risks of danger already affecting their current well-being. These designs add to their problems in finding a place to rest. It could be the last thing that would push them over the edge.

These designs are also a safety hazard for the homeless and the general public. It is in a public space; it should be designed to be safe and inclusive.

The funds provided to establish these designs should have gone into providing safe and reliable shelters for them.

 

Figure 1: Stevens, Simons. "Granby Street in
Leicester." Centre for Urban Research on Austerity,
20 Nov. 2019.

How do I spot an Anti-Homeless design?

These unfriendly designs come in many forms.

A common one would be a bench with bars or dividers in between. Benches with such designs prevent the homeless from sleeping on the bench (Figure 1). 

Another one would be spikes placed under bridges (Figure 2). It drives the homeless away from resting under bridges, which is a challenge for them during rain or snow. These designs also establish a safety hazard for the general public.

In some places like Toronto, there are city designs called "ghost amenities", in which there are little to no amenities to be found, such as benches, washrooms, etc. (Chellew; Figure 3) 

It is pretty easy to identify these anti-homeless designs once you know the patterns and recognize how such designs would deter a homeless' basic need for a place to sleep or rest. 

Once you learn to recognize these, be an active bystander! Help shut down this inhumane deed. Show your support for these vulnerable people by placing a sticker we made on an anti-homeless architecture, then take a photo with the hashtag #HostileDesign on Twitter! 

Figure 3: Landau, Jack.
"Mapping DefensiveTo, a project by Chellew,
the first initiative to track
hostile urban design in Toronto’s
public and privately-owned public spaces (POPS)."

Figure 2: Keith. “Cement Cones under a 

Bridge in Guangzhou, China.”, 2012. 

Works Cited

Chellew, Cara. “Mapping Defensive Urban Design in Toronto.” Spacing Toronto, 5 Aug. 2019, http://spacing.ca/toronto/2019/07/30/mapping-defensive-urban-design-in-toronto/.

Keith "Key". “Cement Cones under a Bridge in Guangzhou, China.” ChinaHush, ChinaHush, 5 July 2012, http://www.chinahush.com/2012/07/05/building-cement-cones-under-highway-bridge-to-drive-out-homeless/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2022

Landau, Jack, and Faith Ruetas. “Mapping DefensiveTo, a Project by Chellew, Is the First Initiative to Track Hostile Urban Design in Toronto’s Public and Privately-Owned Public Spaces (POPS).” ReThinking The Future, Toronto, 7 Dec. 2020, https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/designing-for-typologies/a2564-15-examples-of-hostile-architecture-around-the-world/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2022.

Stevens, Simon. “Granby Street in Leicester.” Centre for Urban Research on Austerity, 20 Nov. 2019, https://cura.our.dmu.ac.uk/2019/11/20/an-anti-homeless-public-space-by-simon-stevens-demontfort-university/.