Hostile Architecture in Urban Spaces

Introduction

• Increasing prevalence of irregular-shaped benches and decorative elements designed to deter people, not just pigeons.
• Examples: Metal bars on benches to prevent sleeping, spikes in doorways to deter loitering.

Definition and Perspectives

• Hostile Architecture: Designed to restrict behaviors like loitering, skateboarding, and drug usage.
• Defensive vs. Hostile: Defensive implies protection, while hostile implies active deterrence.
• Perception varies based on who is viewed as the 'villain'.

History and Evolution

• 19th Century: Use of urine deflectors and wide boulevards after the French Revolution for military ease.
• 1971: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) introduced to reduce crime by manipulating the physical environment.
• Abuse of CPTED guidelines led to more hostile architecture.

Contemporary Use and Criticism

• Targets: Homeless people, skateboarders, and teenagers.
• Forms: Divided benches, studs, obstacles, spikes, and decorative elements with hostile intent.
• Example: 'The Camden Bench' – designed to deter skateboarding, rough sleeping, and drug hiding.
• Criticism: Creates an unequal society, pushes problems elsewhere, not solving root causes.

Homelessness Context

• Rising homelessness in London and England due to poverty, systemic inequality, and lack of affordable housing.
• Vagrancy Act: Criminalization of rough sleeping still in effect, stigmatizing homelessness.
• Public perception often associates homelessness with crime and antisocial behavior.

Economic Factors

• Architecture as Commodity: Buildings are market investments, not just shelters.
• Hostile Architecture's Role: Used to maintain property values by deterring homeless people.

Social Impact

• Exclusion: Prevents vulnerable groups from accessing public spaces, pushing them into precarious situations.
• Ineffectiveness: Does not solve homelessness, merely displaces it.
• Wider Impact: Creates a less welcoming city, affects everyone negatively.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

• Public vs. Pseudo-Public Spaces: Increasing privatization of public land leads to arbitrary rules excluding certain groups.
• Fear and Hostility: Driven by fear of insecurity and loss of benefits, fostering a less empathetic community.

Conclusion

• Hostile architecture reflects societal issues like housing crises and discrimination.
• Effective solutions to homelessness are needed, rather than criminalizing or ostracizing the homeless.
• Hostile architecture is not a sustainable or humane solution.