Prague is not the only city displacing the homeless. It forces us to spend
Homelessness is a worldwide problem. In the Czech Republic, the number of homeless people has roughly doubled in the last decade. In 2019, according to a survey by the Research Institute of Labor and Social Affairs, roughly 23,830 people were homeless. While the trend of marginalization continues to grow, effective mechanisms to address the problem are lacking and society often resorts to desperate repressive attempts to superficially “solve” the consequences of homelessness instead of its cause.
One is hostile urban architecture that is deliberately designed to push the homeless out of public space. Discussions about similar attempts to keep homeless people off the streets have been going on for a long time, the most recent one was ignited at the weekend by the organizer of the Christmas markets in Prague’s Náměstí Republiky, who placed barriers to seating near the markets precisely to prevent the “Christmas atmosphere” from spoiling him the homeless. Despite the fact that the municipality ordered the immediate removal of barriers, questions about how the city works with public space and homeless people continue to loom.
Benches with armrests and bayonets
“Antisocial” architecture and urban furniture that make life on the street impossible is not only a prerogative of Prague or the Czech Republic. Similar attempts can be observed all over the world. From large American cities through central France to Ostrava in the Czech Republic. They prioritize the comfort of those who spend their free time on the street over the comfort of those who live on it everywhere.
A lot can be imagined under the term hostile or anti-homeless architecture. In New York, there are a lot of bayonets in corners and places where a homeless person might be comfortable to sit, in the French city of Angouleme, on the other hand, in 2014, on Christmas Day, the mayor Xavier Bonnefont locked the benches in cages so that the homeless, similar to the Prague markets, “do not disturb ” holidays”. The topic of hostile architecture has been in the media space for a really long time. Still, I’m not moving.
“Unfortunately, there are also bayonets in Prague. This is no longer just an example of New York, there are quite a few here. Benches that are either removed from public spaces or that hybrid type are placed there – either divided benches that only fit one person, or benches with partitions so that a person cannot lie down can be considered an enemy of architecture.” says the architect and co-founder of the organization for Refresher Architects without Borders Karolina Kripnerová and at the same time adds that it is not a relic of the past.
“I would say that, compared to previous years, this architecture is increasing. I’ve been noticing the transformation of benches more recently, and daggers seem to me to be such a current trend.” continues Kripnerová. “Such ‘measures’ have an impact on society, we can’t rest without benches, see the photo at the Main Station,” supplies.
Hostile, but not without response, her installation is opposed by critics who claim that such measures aimed at vulnerable population groups are unethical, disproportionate and, moreover, do not solve the problem of homeless people, but only postpone its consequences.
Already in 2006, for example, the artist Sarah Ross proposed clothes, which was supposed to negate the concrete hostile architecture in Los Angeles. The suits allow the wearer to fit on them, which they are supposed to repel from laying, despite the obstacles they have. With the project, Ross wanted to highlight architecture that serves as an extended arm of the law in public space, using barricades to manipulate disadvantaged people.
The city and private individuals are to blame
“Unfortunately, the divided benches are also placed by the city, and as for the bayonets, it is mainly the private sector,” says Kripnerová. “But it’s a terribly short-term solution that cities reach for when they remove benches from public space. The problem is always just moved from point A to point B as part of this wishful solution, and the goal is what the eyes can’t see – the heart wasn’t.” he adds, adding that city representatives do not listen to the well-known lesson that prevention is cheaper and more effective than managing the consequences, which cause the problem to be postponed.
On the example of an inhospitable space that displaces economically disadvantaged people, the architects agree and mention the space at the exit of the subway on Národní trída next to the head of France Kafka by David Černý. This area was previously planted with trees and benches overlooking the fountain by Pavel Trnka. However, the place began according to the sculptor and the author of the show Herons and predators Intentionally not to maintain and understand Pavel Karous, which naturally began to generate sociopathological behavior.
This applies not only to people who are on a full day, but also to the middle class. Suddenly very quickly find out that places where you don’t have to pay for rest and relaxation are disappearing. – Pavel Karous
“Then a solution was offered and that was privatization. All the trees and benches with lasers, and today you can’t go there without having at least a coffee there, and the citizen was thus pushed out by the customer.” described the situation for Refresher Karous.
The citizen turns into a customer
Despite the fact that the city agreed with the private owner to allow a passable public space between the Quadrio department store, it did not set any requirements on what it should look like. According to experts, the non-location of public furniture is a business move designed to lure the homeless away from nearby restaurant gardens.
“The city has levers on how to prevent this, the city itself sold this specific space to a developer at a very disadvantageous price,” says Karous, noting that officials, city councilors and politicians often fail to keep in touch with capital, which has an interest in a given place and enormous financial power, which can distort the democratic decisions of the city.
“The distortion of public space so that it is inconvenient for people who do not spend money there is constantly increasing, just as public space is constantly being privatized. It is not only related to the most visible manifestation, such as screwing barricades onto benches or attaching metal points to places where you can sit.” Karous explains the process that pushes the citizen out of the public space and replaces him with the customer.
“So it doesn’t just affect people who are on a full day, but also the middle class, who have deeper pockets and are careful not to spend money in that urban landscape when they don’t have to. Suddenly very quickly find out that places where you don’t have to pay for rest and relaxation are disappearing.” supplies.
Danger – large development companies
According to Karousa, the danger lies much further than only in the furniture, which makes it impossible to lie down on it. “What happened before, when roadblocks were purposefully pushed into public space behind Bém and where furniture at public stops was purposefully made anti-ergonomic, is happening on a much more sophisticated level in the form of entire changes to the city’s spatial plans and structures,” he states, referring to the new districts around the Bubny railway station, for example.
The city is supposed to be a strong partner that promotes social sustainability. Prague and Czech cities certainly fail in this. – Karolína Kripnerová
“Brownfield buildings on trains are a classic, where at the moment an example of an entire city district is being created under the dictates of the developer without correction from the city. No civic amenities are created there and it just parasitises the already functioning one, thus structuring the cities in such a way that it excludes from its area people who are socially disadvantaged. It is their intention. It is the privatization of profits but the socialization of costs,” states.
“When we look at the new residential districts, the city should definitely be a bigger player than it is. The city is supposed to be a strong partner that promotes social sustainability there. Prague and Czech cities are certainly failing in this,” adds Kripnerová.
“It’s interesting that there is an exit from the subway where you can sit and if you prevent it, it’s so visible and shocking that it can be discussed. Whereas the new cities of the big players who create parasitic development - with them, the structure of the city is already concretely built in such a way that you don’t even find it strange that there is nowhere to sit. There’s a new and more dangerous dimension to some grog vendor trying to keep homeless people away from his stall with homemade barriers. That entire cities are created in this spirit,” ok Karous.
Solutions in the hands of architects and the city
“A clear solution would be to help people in need or without a home so that they are not so badly off. This means that, for example, the network of social services would be decentralized and spread throughout Prague and not only in the most critical places. But if you ask the representatives if they would be in favor of it being placed on the street in their cadastre, they will say – no, no, not here,” describes Kripnerová.
According to Karousa, architects can contribute to a systemic solution. “The professional integrity of architects has disappeared a lot. I often think that an architect is simply an efficient implementer of developers’ ideas, but he also has his own professional integrity. With the presentation of the diploma, he promises to serve the public. In the last thirty years, it has been forgotten that he has this duty. The obligation to ensure that his buildings do not have a negative impact on the surroundings,” explains.
Karolína Kripnerová also confirms this. “I can at least talk to the architect about it as a client and try to explain it to him. The question is how many do. How many are at the will of the one paying and how many are willing to counter position. Of course they should, architecture is a socially responsible profession” however, he adds that all the burden for hostile architecture should not lie on the architects.
Another possible level of inclusive design and help to solve the problem lies in the urban scale, when architects try to create different apartments, for example, of different sizes and values for different groups of residents, both in a specific house and in a specific location. The goal is to promote social groups and achieve heterogeneity and diversity of the population in the territory.
A good example
“A good example is the revitalization of the traffic loop under Hlávkov bridge. There were several problems at once. On the one hand, the bad urban planning of the 70s, which reveled in bringing cars into the city. At that time nobody knew it as a problem and more cars meant more modernity in the city. But then it quickly became clear that the interspaces of correctional buildings create empty spaces that generate crime. The current plan to draw young people into the area below the Vltava was a very good move. But it is not a systemic solution,” concludes Karous.
Despite the fact that the city has transformed a place where the homeless gathered into a place for leisure activities of young people, one cannot speak of inhospitable architecture. There are many elements left in the underpass that anyone can use to relax in addition to active leisure time. In addition, the city actively negotiated with the local homeless and agreed on all of them.
“Our social workers have been working with that community for a long time, and they have come to an agreement with them. Someone moved elsewhere, someone used our services. In general, however, we try to give people the opportunity to return to normal life, for example through our cleaning service U7, for example, those with a medical condition are also trying to act in city apartments.” said Martin Vokuš, spokesman for Prague 7, for Refresher.
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