5 Ways Anti Homeless Architecture is Affecting the Way the Disadvantaged Live

Written By: Everest Kole 5.27.22

Have you taken a trip to the city recently, or perhaps you live there, and have been seeing some strange things pop up, seemingly overnight? From spikes to cement nubs, it might have raised a question in your mind but you never thought to address it. Maybe because they were in places you thought no human would go, or some other reason. Well I’m here to explain to you the reasoning behind these measures, and why they aren’t as innocent as you might think. Having slept without shelter in a city, and recently being homeless myself, I find it imperative to discuss this topic. Let’s get into it! 

What is Anti Homeless Architecture? 

According to Wikipedia, anti homeless architecture has another name in which it is called “Hostile Architecture”. It is defined as such: 

“Hostile architecture is an urban-design strategy that uses elements of the built environment to purposefully guide or restrict behaviour. It often targets people who use or rely on public space more than others, such as youth, poor people, and homeless people, by restricting the physical behaviors they can engage in. “

In other words, it’s laws and building styles that are made to keep the homeless from sleeping or staying in public areas. These designs can include ‘decorative’ spikes under bridges or on flat surfaces, putting armrests on park benches (which is also fat phobic, but that’s for another article), and any other design strategy that prevents people from sleeping or ‘making camp’ in public spaces. Most of this architecture is prevalent in major cities and urban areas, but it is becoming more popular in smaller places as homelessness is running rampant all across America. 

Now that we have got some background, let’s get into the list! 

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5 Ways Anti Homeless Architecture is Affecting the Way the Disadvantaged Live

1. The architecture keeps the homeless specifically from being able to find comfortable places to sleep. This is, in my opinion, just a petty way to say a big F-You to people who have been displaced. Some by circumstances that were out of ones control! Every human has a right to sleep, with or without a home.

2. The architecture is disguised as art! This is done intentionally, so that people who are unaware of the situation think nothing of it, and can continue living their lives. This prevents people from speaking up and helping the homeless. In other words, it’s dishonest. 

3. It’s a waste of money and space! Instead of building these preventative measures that insure that the homeless will be uncomfortable, you could be using that money and space to build homes and shelters for people. It really just doesn’t make sense. 

3. It’s a waste of money and space! Instead of building these preventative measures that insure that the homeless will be uncomfortable, you could be using that money and space to build homes and shelters for people. It really just doesn’t make sense. 

5. The preventative measures of hostile architecture actually serve to create more dangerous situations than to alleviate them. While you might be thinking that the homeless people are the dangerous ones, and that common people need protective measures against them, not all homeless people are dangerous, and it’s extremely dehumanizing  to think of them in this way. Not allowing people to sleep on benches and under bridges can cause physical health issues, and can possibly encourage the homeless to seek shelter in more dangerous areas or to accept help from more dangerous people. 

Conclusion:

These architectural designs are not helpful! Unless by helpful you mean keeping the homeless from being seen. These measures do nothing except create harm, distrust, and more displacement within communities. Your cities could using their time and money better, to effectively clear people off the streets by putting them into reliable homes. This course of action is intentionally not being chosen, and that only leaves me to conclude that it’s not for any other reason than classism and a denial of our systemic shame. I encourage you to reach out to your city, and to volunteer when you can to help the homeless. I think you will learn a lot you didn’t know about the disadvantaged, and you might be the only smile they see that day. 

Thanks For Stopping By! Until Next Time! 

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