User:Hunerwithat/sandbox

Planned Changes to the "Hostile Architecture" Wikipedia

Section 1: Background

While the existing background section does establish one of the fundamental programs in the United States that contributed to the rise of hostile architecture in the form of CPTED, it doesn’t adequately explain how the program tangibly evolved into hostile architecture. My work will address this by explaining that the premise of CPTED is built on the premise that there is a distinction between “included” and “excluded” populations for any given urban space, thus leading to the kind of design decisions that would push homeless populations out of urban environments in the form of hostile architecture. Additionally, this explanation really only explains the emergence of hostile architecture in the United States, but the ensuing article discusses its prevalence in dozens of different nation’s urban centers. I plan to address this by including some scholarly arguments surrounding how capitalist spaces have sought to eliminate traces of homelessness, fearful that signs of poverty would discourage investment.

Sources will include:


 * 1) *Carr, Matthew. n.d. “Urban Hostility: CPTED, Hostile Architecture, and the Erasure of Democratic Public Space.” https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.913.
 * 2) *‌Gerrard, Jessica, and David Farrugia. 2014. “The ‘Lamentable Sight’ of Homelessness and the Society of the Spectacle.” Urban Studies 52 (12): 2219–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014542135.
 * 3) *‌Petty, James. 2016. “The London Spikes Controversy: Homelessness, Urban Securitisation and the Question of ‘Hostile Architecture.’” International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 5 (1): 67. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v5i1.286.

Section 2: Definition Disputes

The term hostile architecture is one with a wide variety of different interpretations. Consequently, it can be difficult to universally interpret all architecture as specifically designated for the purpose of being exclusionary without an understanding of a nation’s specific culture. Indeed, some Swedish architecture is designed around divided public benches as a consequence of it being an established cultural custom to avoid disturbing strangers. In the article, the difficulties surrounding defining the term are not at all mentioned. This section would address the problem by highlighting different scholarly approaches for defining what the term hostile architecture actually entails.

Sources would include:


 * 1) *Karl. 2021. “‘Hostile Architecture’ and Its Confederates: A Conceptual Framework for How We Should Perceive Our Cities...” ResearchGate. unknown. February 11, 2021. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349210694_Hostile_architecture_and_its_confederates_A_conceptual_framework_for_how_we_should_perceive_our_cities_and_the_objects_in_them.
 * 2) *Rosenberger, Robert. 2019. “On Hostile Design: Theoretical and Empirical Prospects.” Urban Studies 57 (4): 883–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019853778.

Section 3.5: Surveillance

One of the most notorious elements of hostile architecture is surveillance, in the form of both cameras and windows. These can function as hostile architecture in two ways. First, surveillance enables greater prosecution of pre-existing anti-homeless legislation that may exist for things like “rough sleeping” and loitering, by increasing oversight of public spaces. Second, even if legislation doesn’t exist, expanding the perceptual reach of human oversight may discourage excluded populations like the homeless from feeling comfortable in certain public spaces.

Sources will include:


 * 1) *Rosenberger, Robert. 2019. “On Hostile Design: Theoretical and Empirical Prospects.” Urban Studies 57 (4): 883–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019853778.
 * 2) *Johnsen, Sarah, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, and Beth Watts. 2018. “Homelessness and Social Control: A Typology.” Housing Studies 33 (7): 1106–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2017.1421912.

Section 6: Impacts of Hostile Architecture

Notably, while the article discusses various ways that cities in the international community have implemented hostile architecture, there is no real discussion of any quantifiable effects on wellbeing associated with the design philosophy. I plan to fix this through a number of steps. First, I will establish that researchers have noted that no such empirical measurements currently exist. Second, I will include information that highlights the fact that not all researchers are in universal agreement that hostile architecture is a bad thing, as designing spaces in a way that prevents homeless populations from rough-sleeping may encourage them to seek out shelters. Indeed, some previous health studies have found that sleeping in shelters reduces the overall risk of mortality associated with homelessness. Third, I’ll add some survey evidence collected by prior researchers that noted how hostile architecture in London specifically made their homeless population feel more alienated.


 * 1) ‌*Petty, James. 2016. “The London Spikes Controversy: Homelessness, Urban Securitisation and the Question of ‘Hostile Architecture.’” International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 5 (1): 67. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v5i1.286.
 * 2) *Roncarati, Jill S., Travis P. Baggett, James J. O’Connell, Stephen W. Hwang, E. Francis Cook, Nancy Krieger, and Glorian Sorensen. 2018. “Mortality among Unsheltered Homeless Adults in Boston, Massachusetts, 2000-2009.” JAMA Internal Medicine 178 (9): 1242. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.2924.

‌*Rosenberger, Robert. 2019. “On Hostile Design: Theoretical and Empirical Prospects.” Urban Studies 57 (4): 883–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019853778.

Revisions:

While these strategies are not necessarily discriminatory, CPTED's focus on identifying "legitimate" and "illegitimate" users of public spaces encouraged the kind of exclusion at work behind hostile architecture. While the work was criticized by some criminologists, CPTED-based initiatives were funded in the 1970's in cities like Portland, Oregon, and Broward County, Florida.