Hostile architecture

Although the term hostile architecture is recent, the use of civil engineering to achieve social engineering is not: antecedents include 19th-century urine deflectors and urban planning in the United States designed for segregation.{{Cite news |url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131202-dirty-tricks-of-city-design |title=Secret city design tricks manipulate your behaviour |last=Swain |first=Frank |date=2 December 2013 |work=BBC |access-date=23 February 2015 |archive-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626181700/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131202-dirty-tricks-of-city-design |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=http://catsmeatshop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/urine-deflectors-in-fleet-street.html |title=Urine Deflectors in Fleet Street |date=23 July 2013 |access-date=23 February 2014 |website=The Cat's Meat Shop |last=Lee |first=Jackson |archive-date=6 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006102222/http://catsmeatshop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/urine-deflectors-in-fleet-street.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |date=2015 |title=Architectural Exclusion: Discrimination and Segregation Through Physical Design of the Built Environment |url=http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/architectural-exclusion |journal=Yale Law Journal |volume=124 |issue=6 |pages=1836–2201 |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127233134/https://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/architectural-exclusion |url-status=live}} American urban planner Robert Moses designed a stretch of Long Island Southern State Parkway with low stone bridges so that buses could not pass under them. This made it more difficult for people who relied on public transportation, mainly African Americans, to visit the beach that wealthier car-owners could visit.{{Cite web |last=Swain |first=Frank |title=Secret city design tricks manipulate your behaviour |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20131202-dirty-tricks-of-city-design |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127220311/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20131202-dirty-tricks-of-city-design |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |date=2017-07-09 |title=The True Measure of Robert Moses (and His Racist Bridges) |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-moses-and-his-racist-parkway-explained |access-date=2023-06-02}} Outside of the United States, public space design change for the purpose of social control also has historic precedent: the narrow streets of 19th century Paris, France were said to be widened to help the military quash protests.{{Cite thesis |last=Rossem |first=Anna van |date=2022-06-24 |title=Hostile architecture and its effect on public space in Nijmegen: A case study at the central station of Nijmegen |type=Bachelor's thesis |publisher=Radboud University |url=https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/handle/123456789/13735 |language=en}}

Its modern form is derived from the design philosophy crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), which aims to prevent crime or protect property through three strategies: natural surveillance, natural access control, and territorial enforcement.{{Cite journal |last=Chellew |first=Cara |date=2016 |title=Design Paranoia |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314762975 |journal=Ontario Planning Journal |volume=31 |via=ResearchGate |access-date=2018-12-30 |archive-date=2022-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035052/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314762975_Design_Paranoia |url-status=live}} According to experts, exclusionary design is becoming increasingly common, not least in large cities such as Stockholm.{{Cite web |date=2015-04-07 |title=Designen som ska hålla hemlösa borta |url=https://www.dn.se/sthlm/designen-som-ska-halla-hemlosa-borta/ |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Dagens Nyheter |language=sv |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.dn.se/sthlm/designen-som-ska-halla-hemlosa-borta/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Naomi |last2=Walters |first2=Peter |date=2017-10-25 |title=Desire lines and defensive architecture in modern urban environments |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098017732690 |journal=Urban Studies |volume=55 |issue=13 |pages=2980–2995 |doi=10.1177/0042098017732690 |s2cid=148822954 |issn=0042-0980 |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214809/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098017732690 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite book |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1045613015 |title=Exkluderande design |date=2017 |isbn=978-91-87777-28-8 |location=Stockholm |pages=42 |language=sv |oclc=1045613015 |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-date=2022-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035107/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exkluderande-design/oclc/1045613015 |url-status=live}}

Consistent with the widespread implementation of defensible space guidelines in the 1970s, most implementations of CPTED as of 2004 were based solely upon the theory that the proper design and effective use of the built environment could reduce crime, reduce fear of crime, and improve quality of life. Built environment implementations of CPTED seek to dissuade offenders from committing crimes by manipulating the built environment in which those crimes proceed or occur. The six main concepts according to Moffat are territoriality, surveillance, access control, image/maintenance, activity support and target hardening. Applying all of these strategies is key when trying to prevent crime in any neighborhood, crime-ridden or not.{{Cite book|title=Designing Out Crime|last=Wilson|first=Paul|publisher=Australian Institute of Criminology|year=1989|pages=23}}

Beyond CPTED, scholarly research has also found that modern capitalist cities have a vested interest in eliminating signs of homelessness from their communal spaces, fearing that it might discourage investment from wealthier individuals.{{Cite journal |last1=Gerrard |first1=Jessica |last2=Farrugia |first2=David |date=September 2015 |title=The 'lamentable sight' of homelessness and the society of the spectacle |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098014542135 |journal=Urban Studies |language=en |volume=52 |issue=12 |pages=2219–2233 |doi=10.1177/0042098014542135 |bibcode=2015UrbSt..52.2219G |s2cid=146460552 |issn=0042-0980|url-access=subscription }} In England, much of their hostile architecture has been attributed to a desire by the government to combat an anti-social street scene, taking the form of begging and street drinking.{{Cite journal |last1=Johnsen |first1=Sarah |last2=Fitzpatrick |first2=Suzanne |last3=Watts |first3=Beth |date=2018-10-03 |title=Homelessness and social control: a typology |journal=Housing Studies |volume=33 |issue=7 |pages=1106–1126 |doi=10.1080/02673037.2017.1421912 |s2cid=158718588 |issn=0267-3037|doi-access=free }}

Design Apartheid, a term coined by architect Rob Imrie, can be described as the assumption of sameness and able-bodiedness in a population while designing built forms.{{Cite book |last=Imrie |first=Robert |title=Disability and the city: international perspectives |date=1996 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-16187-3 |location=New York}}The built forms are inscribed with the ableist values of the society. An example of design apartheid can be seen in Le Corbusier's diagram of the Modulor which utilises proportions of the body as an anthropometric aid to help architects design buildings. But it presents an image of an upright male who is six feet tall, muscular, powerful, and showing no evidence of either physical or mental disability.{{Cite book |last=Siebers |first=Tobin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/441945645 |title=Disability aesthetics |date=2010 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-07100-5 |series=Corporealities : discourses of disability |location=Ann Arbor |oclc=441945645}}

File:Anti-homeless_spikes,_fire_main,_New_York_City,_New_York,_USA_(15328015470).jpg

Hostile architecture can occur as spikes, bumps or other types of pointed structures. They are typically placed on ledges outside buildings, under roofs or other places where people seek rest or shelter, and also around shops.{{Cite magazine |last=Chellew |first=Cara |date=2016 |title=Defensive Inequalities|magazine=Spacing Magazine}}{{Cite book|last=Dum|first=Christopher P. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/958066095|title=Exiled in America : life on the margins in a residential motel |date=2016 |isbn=978-0-231-54239-5|location=New York|pages=222|oclc=958066095|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035113/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exiled-in-america-life-on-the-margins-in-a-residential-motel/oclc/958066095|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=2015-02-18|title=Defensive architecture: keeping poverty unseen and deflecting our guilt |url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/18/defensive-architecture-keeps-poverty-undeen-and-makes-us-more-hostile|access-date=2022-01-27|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=2015-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220130221/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/18/defensive-architecture-keeps-poverty-undeen-and-makes-us-more-hostile|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Kim|first=Elizabeth|date=2019-08-14|title=A Field Guide To The 'Weapons' Of Hostile Architecture In NYC|url=https://gothamist.com/|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Gothamist |language=en |archive-date=2021-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814224835/https://gothamist.com/|url-status=live}} The property management company Jernhusen uses a variant by placing pipes instead of spikes in several places at Stockholm Central Station.{{Cite web |date=2015-03-27 |title="Exkluderande design" vid Centralen tar bort sovplatser |url=https://www.dn.se/sthlm/exkluderande-design-vid-centralen-tar-bort-sovplatser/|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Dagens Nyheter |language=sv |archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214809/https://www.dn.se/sthlm/exkluderande-design-vid-centralen-tar-bort-sovplatser/|url-status=live}} In 2014, images circulated on the internet of a place in London where homeless people used to sleep. The ground had been fitted with sharp upward-pointing spikes to get rid of people who used to sleep there, but after widespread protests, the anti-homeless spikes were removed.{{Cite book |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1045613015 |title=Exkluderande design |date=2017 |isbn=978-91-87777-28-8 |location=Stockholm |pages=18 |language=sv |oclc=1045613015|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035055/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exkluderande-design/oclc/1045613015|url-status=live}} There are also anti-homeless spikes which are intended to ensure that people do not, for example, sit against a house wall, or stand in a particular place. It is difficult to adequately assess how many different types exist, but it is certain that there are many forms of the phenomenon, including split bricks which form cracks, various forms of bent metal pipes, and plates welded upwards to form spikes.{{Cite web|title=Photos of the Most Egregious 'Anti-Homeless' Architecture|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/photos-of-the-most-egregious-anti-homeless-architecture/|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Vice.com |date=25 June 2019 |language=en|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035112/https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzm53n/photos-of-the-most-egregious-anti-homeless-architecture|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=2020-11-22|title=15 Examples of 'Anti-Homeless' Hostile Architecture That You Probably Never Noticed Before|url=https://interestingengineering.com/15-examples-of-anti-homeless-hostile-architecture-that-you-probably-never-noticed-before|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=interestingengineering.com |language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214811/https://interestingengineering.com/15-examples-of-anti-homeless-hostile-architecture-that-you-probably-never-noticed-before|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Vancouver's 'defensive architecture' is hostile to homeless, say critics |url=https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/courier-archive/news/vancouvers-defensive-architecture-is-hostile-to-homeless-say-critics-3102287|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Vancouver Is Awesome|date=24 June 2019 |language=en|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214811/https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/courier-archive/news/vancouvers-defensive-architecture-is-hostile-to-homeless-say-critics-3102287|url-status=live}} Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called the spikes "stupid".{{Cite web|title=Activists Pour Concrete on Store's 'Anti-Homeless' Spikes, Win |url=https://www.boston.com/news/national-news/2014/06/12/activists-pour-concrete-on-stores-anti-homeless-spikes-win|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=www.boston.com |language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127233125/https://www.boston.com/news/national-news/2014/06/12/activists-pour-concrete-on-stores-anti-homeless-spikes-win/|url-status=live}}

File:Camden_bench.jpg", used in London, has a design that is stated to discourage sleeping, littering, skateboarding, drug dealing, graffiti and theft]]

File:Indy bus sign and seats 2024 jeh (cropped).jpging prevents users from lying down]]

In many large cities, for example Tokyo and London, benches have been designed to prevent people from sleeping on them. These benches have been constructed so that the seat slopes at an angle, which requires the user to support themselves entirely with their feet; such benches are ubiquitous on bus stops across the United Kingdom.{{Cite news|date=2014-06-09|title=The cornucopia of anti-homeless sleeping design|language=en-GB|agency=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27760963 |access-date=2022-02-19|quote=Look at the design of bus stop seats in the UK. They typically prevent anyone from sleeping. One of the most common designs is a narrow plastic bench with a pronounced slope. A sleeper would roll off.|archive-date=2022-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128021456/https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27760963|url-status=live}} Another deterrent design is to include armrests placed down the center of the bench, preventing the user from lying down across the seats.{{cite web |url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/metro-s-bench-dividers-at-bus-shelters-seen-by-some/article_fa966d07-8aac-5678-a08a-ab3c4f12a451.html |title=Metro's bench dividers at bus shelters seen by some as slap at homeless|last1=Bell|first1=Kim|date=2013-12-18|publisher=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |accessdate=2014-06-08|archive-date=2014-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822071252/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/metro-s-bench-dividers-at-bus-shelters-seen-by-some/article_fa966d07-8aac-5678-a08a-ab3c4f12a451.html|url-status=live}}

Camden Borough Council in London commissioned concrete-block benches (dubbed "Camden benches") designed to discourage uses such as sleeping, skateboarding and placing stickers.{{cite web |url=https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2016/11/26/the-camden-bench/ |title=The Camden Bench |publisher=Ian Visits |date=2 December 2016 |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107071058/https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2016/11/26/the-camden-bench/ |url-status=live}} There are other variants, in which level differences are absent but they tend to be either too short to lie on, or have iron pipes placed two-thirds of the way in, or multiple armrests placed along the entire length of the bench.{{Cite web|last=Waters|first=Carlos|date=2017-12-01|title=Why cities are full of uncomfortable benches|url=https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/12/1/16724914/hostile-architecture-defensive-design-uncomfortable-benches|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Vox|language=en|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127220312/https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/12/1/16724914/hostile-architecture-defensive-design-uncomfortable-benches|url-status=live}} Such benches are common in airports.{{Cite news |date=2014-11-30 |title=Obekväm design motar bort oönskade från städerna|language=sv|work=Dagens Nyheter|url=https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/obekvam-design-motar-bort-oonskade-fran-staderna/|access-date=2022-01-27|issn=1101-2447|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/obekvam-design-motar-bort-oonskade-fran-staderna/|url-status=live}}

Other types of seats, such as Simme seats, are designed to be too small to accommodate lying down or sleeping. They are installed in locations where homeless camping is prevalent.{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=Allyson |title=City tries out a new, more comfortable bus stop seating option |url=https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/32851124/city-hopes-to-deter-people-from-sleeping-at-bus-stops-with-new-seating/ |access-date=19 January 2025 |work=Hawaii News Now |date=27 August 2016 |language=en}}

When the City Tunnel in Malmö, Sweden, was opened in 2010, the design of the benches on the new train platforms was reported to the Equality Ombudsman because the benches were tilted so much that they were difficult to impossible to use for sitting.{{Cite web |title=Exkluderande arkitektur påverkar hela samhället negativt|url=https://www.arkitekt.se/blogg/blogg-disorder/exkluderande-arkitektur-paverkar-hela-samhallet-negativt/|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Sveriges Arkitekter |date=8 January 2019 |language=sv-SE|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214812/https://www.arkitekt.se/blogg/blogg-disorder/exkluderande-arkitektur-paverkar-hela-samhallet-negativt/|url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1045613015|title=Exkluderande design |date=2017 |isbn=978-91-87777-28-8 |location=Stockholm |pages=16 |language=sv|oclc=1045613015|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035102/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exkluderande-design/oclc/1045613015|url-status=live}} The Swedish state-owned real estate company Jernhusen has also used so-called "homeless-proof" benches at the train station in Luleå, with seven iron bars at {{Convert|47|cm|in|abbr=on|adj=on}} intervals per bench.{{Cite news |last1=Nyberg|first1=Micke|last2=Isberg|first2=Catharina|date=2015-03-12|title=Här är det förbjudet att ligga ner |language=sv |work=SVT Nyheter|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/nya-bankar-i-stationshallen-kritiseras|access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214812/https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/nya-bankar-i-stationshallen-kritiseras |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last1=Gitz |first1=Randi |last2=Haupt |first2=Inger|date=2014-02-26|title=Här är järnvägsstationen med enbart ståplats|language=sv|work=SVT Nyheter|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/sta-plats-pa-jarnvagsstationen|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/sta-plats-pa-jarnvagsstationen|url-status=live}} Jernhusen's press officer maintained that they "put in the armrests primarily to make it easier for the elderly and disabled to sit and stand up" but admitted in an interview that the perceived orderliness problems at the station building influenced how the benches were designed. Another example of a company that has installed such benches is Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, Berlin's local public transport company.{{Cite web|last=Wagner|first=Jonas|title=Kein Platz für Obdachlose (nd-aktuell.de)|url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1131517.wohnungslose-kein-platz-fuer-obdachlose.html|access-date=2022-01-27|website=www.nd-aktuell.de|language=de|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214812/https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1131517.wohnungslose-kein-platz-fuer-obdachlose.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Krieg|first=Claudia|title=Menschen statt Bänke schützen (nd-aktuell.de)|url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1131519.obdachlosigkeit-menschen-statt-baenke-schuetzen.html|access-date=2022-01-27|website=www.nd-aktuell.de|language=de|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1131519.obdachlosigkeit-menschen-statt-baenke-schuetzen.html|url-status=live}}

Some examples of sleeping deterrents take the form of temporary changes to buildings. An example of this occurred in a Liverpool building, previously the Bank of England headquarters, in December 2016. A blue sloping steel structure covered in oil was placed over the stairs at night, so that the homeless who used to sleep and rest on the stairs would not stay there.{{Cite book |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1045613015 |title=Exkluderande design |date=2017 |isbn=978-91-87777-28-8 |location=Stockholm |pages=23–24 |language=sv |oclc=1045613015 |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035100/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exkluderande-design/oclc/1045613015 |archive-date=2022-02-19 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |title='Anti-homeless' slope put in doorway |language=en-GB |agency=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-manchester-38116608 |url-status=live |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-manchester-38116608 |archive-date=2022-01-27}}

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| header =

| image1 = Odot boulder.jpg

| alt1 = Boulders installed along a freeway ramp in Portland, Oregon, United States as a hostile architecture to deter transient camps

| caption1 = Boulders installed along a freeway ramp in Portland, Oregon to deter transient camps

| image2 = Exkluderande_design_i_Stockholm_2015.jpg

| alt2 = Fence under the stairs of the City Archives in Kungsholmen in Stockholm (2015){{Cite web |date=2015-03-23|title=Staket för 200.000 ska hålla hemlösa borta|url=https://www.dn.se/sthlm/staket-for-200000-ska-halla-hemlosa-borta/|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Dagens Nyheter|language=sv|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214813/https://www.dn.se/sthlm/staket-for-200000-ska-halla-hemlosa-borta/|url-status=live}}

| caption2 = Fence under the stairs of the City Archives in Kungsholmen in Stockholm (2015).{{Cite web |date=2015-03-23|title=Staket för 200.000 ska hålla hemlösa borta|url=https://www.dn.se/sthlm/staket-for-200000-ska-halla-hemlosa-borta/|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Dagens Nyheter|language=sv|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214813/https://www.dn.se/sthlm/staket-for-200000-ska-halla-hemlosa-borta/|url-status=live}}

}}

In Seattle, Washington, United States, the city government installed bicycle racks to prevent homeless people from camping.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/12/19/25638433/seattle-uses-bike-racks-to-discourage-homeless-camping |title=Seattle Uses Bike Racks to Discourage Homeless Camping |last=Groover |first=Heidi |date=19 December 2017 |work=The Stranger |access-date=17 December 2017 |archive-date=22 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122061308/https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/12/19/25638433/seattle-uses-bike-racks-to-discourage-homeless-camping |url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=2018-01-24|title=New anti-homeless architecture: Seattle uses bike racks to block rough sleepers|url=http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/24/anti-homeless-architecture-seattle-bike-racks-block-rough-sleepers|access-date=2020-07-25 |website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=2020-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814003338/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/24/anti-homeless-architecture-seattle-bike-racks-block-rough-sleepers|url-status=live}}

Since 2013, the Oregon Department of Transportation in Oregon, United States deployed large boulders at eight locations that had been the site of transient camps in Portland. These boulders were installed to deter illegal camping near the freeways.{{Cite web |last=Kruzman |first=Diana |date=2019-07-04 |title=Portland's homeless campers face new obstacle: piles of boulders |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/07/homeless-campers-face-a-new-obstacle-along-portland-roadways-giant-piles-of-boulders.html |access-date=2020-07-25 |website=oregonlive |language=en |quote=The boulders are a form of hostile architecture or defensive design |archive-date=2020-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724110530/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/07/homeless-campers-face-a-new-obstacle-along-portland-roadways-giant-piles-of-boulders.html |url-status=live}}

Fences or grates are a common form of exclusionary design, often used to prevent access to places where there is protection from the elements, for example under stairs, bridges, or near fan systems that blow out hot air.{{Cite book |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1045613015 |title=Exkluderande design |date=2017 |isbn=978-91-87777-28-8 |location=Stockholm |pages=20 |language=sv |oclc=1045613015 |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-date=2022-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035054/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exkluderande-design/oclc/1045613015|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=ZEIT ONLINE {{!}} Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl. |url=https://www.zeit.de/zustimmung?url=https://www.zeit.de/hamburg/politik-wirtschaft/2016-05/obdachlosigkeit-hamburg-zaun-kanal-eimsbuettel-gruenflaeche-isebekkanal|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=www.zeit.de|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214809/https://www.zeit.de/zustimmung?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zeit.de%2Fhamburg%2Fpolitik-wirtschaft%2F2016-05%2Fobdachlosigkeit-hamburg-zaun-kanal-eimsbuettel-gruenflaeche-isebekkanal|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Schneider|first=Jens|title=St. Pauli hält Obdachlose mit Zaun auf Distanz|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/hamburg-st-pauli-haelt-obdachlose-mit-zaun-auf-distanz-1.1151916|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Süddeutsche Zeitung|date=28 September 2011 |language=de|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/hamburg-st-pauli-haelt-obdachlose-mit-zaun-auf-distanz-1.1151916|url-status=live}}

In the spring of 2015, the City of Stockholm, Sweden, erected a {{SEK|200,000|link=yes}} (~22,900 USD) fence to prevent homeless people from seeking shelter under a staircase in Kungsholmen.

File:Moynihan Train Hall interior, Dec 27 2022 (cropped).jpg in New York City due to a lack of benches, which some critics have argued is designed to keep away the homeless.{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Tim |title=Monster of 2022: Moynihan Train Hall and the hostile architecture ethos |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/01/monster-of-2022-moynihan-train-hall/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |work=Mother Jones |date=January 3, 2023}}]]

Sometimes exclusionary design is not about adding features, but rather about taking them away. Fredrik Edin, who has written a book on exclusionary design, says that removal is the most common type of exclusionary design, where, for example, benches used by the public are removed precisely because they are used by the public.{{Cite web |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |date=2018-09-05 |title=Den vanligaste formen av exkluderande design |url=https://fredrikedin.se/2018/09/05/den-vanligaste-formen-av-exkluderande-design/ |access-date=2022-01-27 |website=Skumrask |language=sv-SE |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://fredrikedin.se/2018/09/05/den-vanligaste-formen-av-exkluderande-design/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Muraca|first=Frank|date=2018-01-09|title=Excluding Fast and Slow: Charlottesville's Long Battle over Public Space |url=https://metropolitics.org/Excluding-Fast-and-Slow-Charlottesville-s-Long-Battle-over-Public-Space.html |journal=Metropolitics |language=en |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214811/https://metropolitics.org/Excluding-Fast-and-Slow-Charlottesville-s-Long-Battle-over-Public-Space.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1045613015 |title=Exkluderande design |date=2017 |isbn=978-91-87777-28-8 |location=Stockholm |language=sv |oclc=1045613015 |access-date=2022-01-27 |archive-date=2022-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035118/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exkluderande-design/oclc/1045613015|url-status=live}} One example is when representatives of the New York City Subway announced via social media in 2021 that "benches were removed from stations to prevent the homeless from sleeping on them." The agency later said the tweet was a mistake.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2021-02-06|title=NYC Transit blasted for tweeting that subway station benches were removed to deter homeless|url=https://nypost.com/2021/02/06/nyc-transit-tweets-that-benches-removed-to-deter-homeless/|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=New York Post |language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214809/https://nypost.com/2021/02/06/nyc-transit-tweets-that-benches-removed-to-deter-homeless/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Perrett |first=Connor |title=The New York City MTA sparked backlash for saying it removed benches from subway stations to 'prevent the homeless from sleeping on them' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-mta-removed-benches-to-prevent-homeless-from-sleeping-2021-2|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214809/https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-mta-removed-benches-to-prevent-homeless-from-sleeping-2021-2|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Goldbaum|first=Christina|date=2021-02-08|title=The Subway Was Their Refuge on Cold Nights. Now It's Off-Limits.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/08/nyregion/nyc-subway-homeless.html|access-date=2022-01-27 |issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214811/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/08/nyregion/nyc-subway-homeless.html|url-status=live}} Benches at certain locations at Stockholm Central Station were removed in 2015 in favour of chairs and benches were also removed at Luleå railway station. Their press officer stated that they had problems with the station being used as a warming shelter. Many public toilets have begun to be removed in the UK in places considered to be untidy.

One of the most common forms of hostile architecture takes the form of surveillance. While security cameras do not physically prevent people from engaging in certain behaviors, they can restrict actions in public spaces through enabling remote oversight and increasing the fear of retaliation for socially taboo actions. In cities like Cincinnati, there has been a noted sharp increase in the number of CCTV cameras in public spaces since the 1990s.{{Cite book |last=C. |first=Hurley, David |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/52100550 |title=Closed circuit television : the Cincinnati experience |date=2002 |publisher=University of Cincinnati |oclc=52100550}}

{{Excerpt|Urine deflector|files=none}}

File:Exkluderande_design_i_Stockholm_2015-5.jpg

This type of exclusionary design may involve, for example, displaying a large flowerpot where homeless people previously used the pavement to sleep. Other examples that have occurred include a stone painted in rainbow colours, putting out blocking shrubbery on a sidewalk, and "fun" shaped seating.{{Cite book |last=Edin |first=Fredrik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1045613015 |title=Exkluderande design |date=2017 |isbn=978-91-87777-28-8 |location=Stockholm |pages=21|language=sv|oclc=1045613015|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219035101/https://www.worldcat.org/title/exkluderande-design/oclc/1045613015|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title='Hostile design' makes Calgary an unwelcoming modern city, says architect|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/unpleasant-hostile-urban-design-calgary-1.4562817|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717223540/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/unpleasant-hostile-urban-design-calgary-1.4562817|archive-date=2021-07-17|website=CBC/Radio Canada}}

In Sweden, loudspeakers in Finspång have played music in order to get addicts to leave certain places. In the UK and Germany, so-called anti-loitering devices (see The Mosquito) have been installed to ensure that young people do not stay in places where they are installed.{{Cite news |last=Snis |first=Alva |date=2016-11-28|title=Kritiserat pipljud i Tensta avstängt under helgen |language=sv|work=Sveriges Radio|url=https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/6574181|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214812/https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/6574181|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=#defensiveTO {{!}} Light + Sound|url=https://www.defensiveto.com/light-sound|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=defensiveto |language=en|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.defensiveto.com/light-sound|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Raue kämpft mit Piepton gegen Jugendliche|url=https://www.maz-online.de/Lokales/Teltow-Flaeming/Jueterbog/Buergermeister-Raue-kaempft-mit-Ultraschallgeraet-Mosquito-gegen-Jugendliche|access-date=2022-01-27 |website=MAZ - Märkische Allgemeine|date=19 September 2018 |language=de|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214809/https://www.maz-online.de/Lokales/Teltow-Flaeming/Jueterbog/Buergermeister-Raue-kaempft-mit-Ultraschallgeraet-Mosquito-gegen-Jugendliche |url-status=live}} The devices work by emitting a monotone sound at such a high frequency that most people after adolescence lose the ability to hear it.{{Cite web|last=Education.com|title=Sonic Science: The High-Frequency Hearing Test |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-high-frequency-hearing/|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Scientific American|language=en|archive-date=2017-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024050555/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-high-frequency-hearing/|url-status=live}} Critics have stated that the devices constitute a violation of human rights and also comment that the phenomenon would create a "dangerous gap" between young people exposed to it and older people who can avoid it.{{Cite news|date=2018-10-11|title=High-pitched 'anti-loitering' devices targeting young people breaches human rights: advocates|language=en-AU|work=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-11/anti-loitering-devices-a-breach-of-human-rights-advocates-say/10364766|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-11/anti-loitering-devices-a-breach-of-human-rights-advocates-say/10364766|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Kirk|first=Tracy|title=The use of sonic 'anti-loitering' devices is breaching teenagers' human rights|url=http://theconversation.com/the-use-of-sonic-anti-loitering-devices-is-breaching-teenagers-human-rights-81965|access-date=2022-01-27|website=The Conversation|date=4 August 2017 |language=en|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127233129/https://theconversation.com/the-use-of-sonic-anti-loitering-devices-is-breaching-teenagers-human-rights-81965|url-status=live}} In Germany, classical music has been used in an attempt to keep drug users away.{{Cite news|last1=Pergande|first1=Frank|last2=Hamburg|title=Brennpunkt Hauptbahnhof: Klassische Musik gegen Drogenkonsum |language=de|work=FAZ.NET|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/frankfurt/klassische-musik-gegen-drogenkonsum-14522565.html |access-date=2022-01-27|issn=0174-4909|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214810/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/frankfurt/klassische-musik-gegen-drogenkonsum-14522565.html|url-status=live}} In Berlin, a plan to use atonal music at S-Bahn stations has been withdrawn after criticism.{{Cite web |last=Benjes |first=Lisa |date=2018-08-31 |title='Art shouldn't be weaponised': the atonal concert championing Berlin's homeless |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/31/art-shouldnt-be-weaponised-the-atonal-concert-championing-berlins-homeless|access-date=2022-02-25|website=The Guardian|language=en}}

Sprinklers can be found in areas where spikes are considered too permanent; this solution involves spraying water on those staying in a particular place at a particular time.{{Cite web|date=2018-02-01|title=Bristol tanning salon installs sprinklers to stop homeless people from sleeping outside|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bristol-salon-water-sprinklers-homeless-rough-sleepers-stop-owner-defends-use-consul-a8187226.html|access-date=2022-01-27|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127220311/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bristol-salon-water-sprinklers-homeless-rough-sleepers-stop-owner-defends-use-consul-a8187226.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |date=2018-01-30 |title=Salon criticised over anti-homeless water sprinklers|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-42880213|access-date=2022-01-27|archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127220312/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-42880213|url-status=live}}

The Strand Bookstore in New York used such a system in 2013 to deter homeless people sleeping outside the store at night.{{Cite web |last=|first=|date=2013-11-14|title=Strand Bookstore 'uses sprinklers to evict homeless'|url=https://nypost.com/2013/11/14/strand-bookstore-uses-sprinklers-to-evict-sleeping-homeless/|access-date=2022-01-27|website=New York Post|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127214811/https://nypost.com/2013/11/14/strand-bookstore-uses-sprinklers-to-evict-sleeping-homeless/|url-status=live}} Bonhams in San Francisco was criticised for an external sprinkler system that it claimed was used to clean "building and perimeter sidewalks during non-business hours intermittently over a 48-hour period", and which was also a point where homeless people gathered.{{Cite web|date=2016-06-10|title=Luxury auction house under fire after sprinkler system douses homeless|url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/10/san-francisco-homeless-sprinklers-bonhams-auction-house|access-date=2022-01-27|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=2022-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127232707/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/10/san-francisco-homeless-sprinklers-bonhams-auction-house|url-status=live}}

Opposition to hostile architecture in urban design states that such architecture makes public spaces hostile to all people and especially targets the transient and homeless populations.{{Cite news|last=Hu|first=Winnie|date=November 8, 2019 |title='Hostile Architecture': How Public Spaces Keep the Public Out|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/nyregion/hostile-architecture-nyc.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903200308/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/nyregion/hostile-architecture-nyc.html|archive-date=September 3, 2020|url-status=live |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=November 12, 2020}}

Proponents say that clearly establishing a sense of ownership over the space helps maintain order and safety and deter crime and unwanted behaviors.O’Shea, Linda S. Awwad-Rafferty, Rula. Design and Security in the built environment. Fairchild Books inc. 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-56367-497-6}}. Pp 27.

Examples of hostile architecture circulating within UK media have led to negative reception. Nonetheless, types of hostile architecture have increased. For example, Selfridges in Manchester installed metal spikes outside their store for the purpose of reducing "litter and smoking," which suggests hostile architecture may be implicated for one reason but explained by another.

Often as part of a larger pattern of tactical urbanism, some opponents of hostile architecture have responded to it directly to undermine its intended effects. Where public seating is absent or inadequate, some have built and installed seating themselves in an act called "chair bombing".{{Cite web |title=chair bombing - popupinfrastructure |url=https://cargocollective.com/popupinfrastructurewrl/chair-bombing |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=cargocollective.com |language=en}} Others have removed or vandalized anti-homeless spikes and armrests in protest of anti-homelessness legislation.{{Cite web |last=MacNeill |first=Arianna |title='Hostile architecture': A group wanted for removing armrests from MBTA benches says they're helping the homeless |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/03/09/armrests-removed-mbta-station-benches/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=www.boston.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2014-06-12 |title=Victory As Tesco Abandons Anti-Homeless Spikes After Concrete Vandalism |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/12/antihomeless-spikes-tesco-vandalised-concrete_n_5487823.html |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=HuffPost UK |language=en}} Some members of England's homeless community interviewed by researchers have noted that hostile design contributes to their displacement and feelings of insignificance, as it appears that local business interests are prioritized over their survival.

=== Identification ===

Some forms of hostile architecture are easy to identify, while others could be interpreted as either exclusionary or non-exclusionary, such as spaced-out singular chairs constructed at a playground in Sweden, which may appear intentionally designed to dissuade homeless sleeping, or as an acknowledgement that Swedes consider it impolite to sit near strangers.{{Cite journal |last=de Fine Licht |first=Karl |date=February 2021 |title="Hostile architecture" and its confederates: A conceptual framework for how we should perceive our cities and the objects in them |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349210694 |journal=Canadian Journal on Urban Research}} Some researchers have said that hostile architecture should be evaluated within the wider context of the community, and should recognize the social and political forces motivating a particular design choice, such as anti-homelessness legislation or sentiments.{{Cite journal |last=Rosenberger |first=Robert |date=March 2020 |title=On hostile design: Theoretical and empirical prospects |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098019853778 |journal=Urban Studies |language=en |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=883–893 |doi=10.1177/0042098019853778 |bibcode=2020UrbSt..57..883R |s2cid=202333075 |issn=0042-0980|url-access=subscription }}

{{as of|March 2020}}, no wide-scale empirical study has been conducted to measure the impact of hostile architecture on the wellbeing of homeless people or other targeted populations.

File:Controversial BPF Miami.jpg|Spikes added around fountain in Government Center, Miami, in 2011 at downtown transit center

File:Grind-prevention.jpg|Ledge with skatestoppers preventing skateboarders from grinding

File:Spiked Ledge Boston.jpg|Spikes on a ledge in Boston to prevent sleeping or sitting

File:Spiked stone handrail of the Saint Martin church in Obourg (DSC 1373).jpg|Spiked handrail, presumably preventing users from sliding down

File:Anti-Homeless Floor Spikes.jpg|Floor spikes in Shoreditch, London, U.K, designed to prevent people from sleeping on the ground.

File:Westbahnhof,_hostile_benches_02.jpg|Benches with metal pipes to prevent lying down at a train station in Vienna

File:Hostile architecture in Washington DC with pins to prevent pedestrians from resting on ledge.jpg|Pins prevent pedestrians from resting on ledge

File:新宿排除アート 2007 (1808421202).jpg|Anti-homeless object in Shinjuku Station underpass

• Architecture terrible
• Anti-trespass panels, spiky rubber and wooden mats meant to discourage trespass on or near rail tracks.
• Bird control spike
• Defensible space theory
• Defensive design
• Functionalism (architecture)
• Natural surveillance
• New Urbanism
• Privately owned public space
• Skatestopper
• Social model of disability
• Urban vitality

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• Cara Chellew, [https://torontoist.com/2018/02/public-works-defensive-urban-design-spotted-around-toronto/ Bars, barriers and ghost amenities: Defensive urban design in Toronto] Torontoist.
• Lloyd Alter, [https://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/blogs/hostile-design-aging-population/ Hostile design doesn't work for any age group] Mother Nature Network.
• Cara Chellew, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322210934_Defensive_Inequalities/ Defensive Inequalities] Spacing Magazine.
• {{cite web|title=When Design Is Hostile On Purpose|url=http://www.popsci.com/unpleasant-design|website=Popsci|date=28 July 2016 |access-date=16 August 2017}}
• [https://hostiledesign.org/ HostileDesign.org], Project homepage of Stuart Semple sticker campaign.

Category:Discrimination against the homeless

Category:Skateboarding

Category:Social engineering (political science)

Category:Urban design

Category:Architectural controversies

Category:Architectural design