Activists protest outside the Supreme Court before arguments in Grants Pass v. Johnson on April 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
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Anti-camping laws are the centerpiece of the ‘hostile design’ strategies cities use to push the unhoused out of public spaces.
Individual rules against activities such as camping or just resting on a ledge may not seem like a big deal. But taken together, they make life more difficult for people without shelter.
Robert Rosenberger
Anti-camping laws are the centerpiece of the ‘hostile design’ strategies cities use to push the unhoused out of public spaces.
Many cities have used spikes on ledges and other spaces to prevent (usually homeless) people from sleeping or sitting on them.
from shutterstock.com
Design principles, known as ‘crime prevention through environmental design’, are used all over the world to make cities safer. But some of these principles can be discriminatory and hostile.