Anti-homeless architecture: Not even a place to lie down

"You don't even give the homeless the dirt under your fingers anymore," said Disarstar in a video in autumn 2022. The politically active Hamburg rapper drew attention to anti-homeless architecture and quickly dismantled a metal bar that separated seats on a bench himself with a cutting grinder.

According to welfare associations, up to 10,000 people live on the streets in Berlin, and according to the Federal Association for Homeless Assistance, there are more than 50,000 across Germany. In stories, these people spend the night on park benches or under bridges. But in reality, this is usually more difficult.

Anti-homeless architecture includes street furniture, but it can also be found in public transport and public buildings. Many benches are strategically built so that no one can sleep on them thanks to metal struts. Some only have space for one or two people to sit, or are deliberately built with curves. The decision to make benches out of metal or stone is also a conscious one.

Metal spikes are sometimes installed under bridges to prevent anyone from sleeping there. Garbage cans are constructed in such a way that it is difficult to reach into them.

In some train stations, loudspeakers are also installed that play music or tell stories day and night without interruption. The installation of blue or other brightly colored lights is also intended to deter people from staying overnight. Examples of this can be found in many places in Berlin: in almost every subway station, but also at the main train station, where metal struts and round benches have been built.

Anti-homeless architecture is also known as defensive architecture. However, this term is often criticized as a euphemism because it makes the problem smaller than it is. In 2022, the synonym even took third place in the Unword of the Year. The jury called this architectural style "dehumanizing" at the time.

The primary purpose of this architecture is to make public places safer. By driving out homeless people, cities are also meant to appear cleaner and tidier - especially for tourists. The New York subway began building benches in the style of anti-homeless architecture in the 1970s.

Older and disabled people also suffer from this, but the homeless are the ones most affected by this inhumane urban planning. They do not have even the bare minimum, not even a place to sleep outside.