You have probably seen it before and never even noticed. Metal bars dividing public benches. Perhaps tiny spikes sticking out of a railing or half wall. These are examples of a form of city planning that the general public has coined as hostile architecture.
Hostile architecture, sometimes called defensive architecture, is a method of urban design that generally discourages the use of spaces in any other way than the intention of the owner. While at first glance this type of space design might seem logical it has a deep-rooted hatred underneath.
The problem with hostile architecture, and the source of its negatively connotated name, come from its impact on the homeless community in the area. This type of architecture targets the homeless community, who are often looking for places to sleep or rest in public, by purposefully restricting these individuals’ access to an area. A common type of hostile architecture comes in the form of “anti-homeless spikes” or studs that are embedded in flat surfaces to make sleeping, needless to say, difficult, uncomfortable and impractical. However, this is just one example of many that put an already marginalized group in the U.S. at a greater disadvantage.
Elliot Sklar, an associate professor of health care science at NSU and subject matter expert on homelessness, was the project director on the only national grant that was created to integrate homeless healthcare education into medical school curriculum. Through this grant, Sklar gained extensive experience in building relationships with local homeless communities and is able to provide some insight on what kind of effect this harmful type of city planning has on homeless populations.
“I think the thing with hostile architecture, the design of things created so people can’t loiter outside or appreciate part of the outdoors, has come to light during COVID-19 because we are all sort of looking for places to hang out and lounge outside, but I have to be honest in saying my experience in hostile architecture here in South Florida is more about the high cost of living and housing which is directly related to our high homeless rates in Miami and Fort Lauderdale,” said Sklar.
With the debate around hostile architecture mostly taking place in cities up north such as New York City or on the opposite coast in Portland, due to the recent rise in occurrence of these harmful architectural techniques in these cities, that does not mean it is not affecting the local homeless population in South Florida. While it may be more of a rarity, Sklar provided a great example of this hostile architecture in full form in nearby Miami Beach. On the corner of 17th St. and Washington Ave. sits Soundscape Park and newly built concrete balls on the benches surrounding the park to clearly prevent the homeless population from resting.
“City planning has a lot to do with things but more than city planning real-life things happen. In South Florida, a lot of people rely on the hospitality and tourism industry for their income and to live and we have seen a lot of shutdowns,” said Sklar.
With the homeless population in South Florida relying on tourists to survive, COVID-19 makes earning some form of an income tough enough even without these new architectural pieces. Just to add to the turbulent times, this form of city planning has sent the message to our homeless populations that we do not want them here, which I am sure for the majority of South Florida’s population is far from the truth.
In some neighborhoods in England, they have even begun placing spikes on trees to prevent birds from landing. How far will this hostile architecture go? First other humans and now even wildlife cannot enjoy public spaces. At this rate, I would not be surprised to see cities around the U.S. employing this type of architecture to prevent our native wildlife from existing in public areas.
Simply existing is not something that should be punished — by creating this hostile architecture and sending the message that homeless populations cannot exist here is just putting one big poorly made band-aid over the true problem of homelessness in the U.S. To our cities governments: do better.
