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We must end rough sleeping but hostile architecture must go too (www.bigissue.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
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Norwich City Council, in apparent solidarity with rough sleepers, are taking away armrests from public benches so that night sleepers can stretch out more. This is an endeavour to be more supportive of those reduced to turning public spaces into temporary dormitories.

For perhaps the last 20 years many local authorities and private property owners have been doing the exact opposite. Putting metal bolts on flat spaces so that they become impossible to sit on, let alone lie on. ‘Social dislodgement’ you might call it; architectural solutions to social problems. One of the canniest inventions was to turn bus shelter seats slightly tilted so that after a short time you began to slip off.

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[–] 15 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The same incentive to dislodge the homeless is the same reason they put sub par cladding on Grenfell. To remove the unsightly poor through obfuscation. Don't want the well heeled getting pangs of conscience.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 months ago

    That's my issue with hostile architecture. I live in los Angeles. The homeless here are struggling and need material help, but to many they are deemed like animals that need to be chased away. I regularly hear people talk about the homeless as if they are an inconvenience instead of people suffering. The lack of empathy is mind boggling. I'm only one guy, what can my dumbass do though?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    What about the ordinary residents of Notting Hill? Should they have to be reminded every day of the fire and death? Should they have to risk bits of debris falling off? Should a building with no windows be left exposed to the weather? Just so that the well-heeled have to suffer the same reminder as the poors, it sounds like?

    The difference between hostile architecture and cladding Grenfell is that covering Grenfell serves practical purposes.

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    • [–] 18 points 2 months ago (5 children)

    This is one of the worst examples of hostile architecture I've personally seen.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 months ago* (1 child)

    It'd be really easy to sleep on your side or back with your legs on the side or on top of that. Are you sure it was designed as hostile architecture and not just an art piece?

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    Honestly, I have no idea. It just seems really dumb to make a bench to fit multiple people then block off half of it with a glass ball? It was on a residential street iirc on the way to Boscombe beach.

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    • [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    I’ll bet I could fit under that rail, and have a nice security strap to stop me from falling off at night too? Sign me up!

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    [–] 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Why is it called rough sleeping in the UK?

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  • [–] 35 points 2 months ago

    To separate rough sleeping (sleeping outside) from homelessness (not having a home).

    Someone who has no official address, but is sleeping on the floor in a friend's house temporarily is homeless but not rough sleeping.

    Someone who has a home and address, but isn't able to go there for some reason (often escaping from domestic violence) may end up "sleeping rough" i.e. outside on a bench, in a tent or shop doorway.

    Many other variations/examples obviously, and plenty of cases of both together.

    Both situations need slightly different support.

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    • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    That was one of the most odious tracking management UIs I have seen. Unless you want to accept everything, then you would have to invest quite a bit of effort in multiple tabs....

    Screw that.

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