User:B137/bum prevention features



Defensive architecture, in the form of undesirable detraction devices or bum prevention features are elements that are often added outdoor infrastructure such as park benches and bus stops to detract the homeless. They are often designed to appear intended in the design of the structure for efficiency or mitigation of other issues. For example, on an anti-homeless bench, these 'bum bumps' may appear to quarter the surface into distinct seats as to accommodate more seated in an efficient manner, but are actually there to prevent homeless from laying down and sleeping. They are also much more pronounced than simple brackets fastened to edges to detract skateboarding. Benches may also be made too short to lay down on, such as where there are several adjacent short benches verses fewer long ones.

In Miami, Florida, a decorative fountain at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center had the spiked fence added to prevent people from sitting, while the rhetoric was that it was to prevent birds from perching.

Other methods of detraction installing copious sprinklers, which may even spray onto sidewalks and bus stops, and run all night even in wet conditions. It is very common in urban areas for public and private restrooms to be locked, require money, or to be for select customers only. More ambiguous methods include logistically placed security cameras.