Defensive Urban Design: Balancing Security and Social Responsibility

Urban design shapes cities to make them better places to live. It covers things like how buildings are laid out, how they look, and most importantly, how safe they are. Defensive urban design focuses on making cities safe from things like disasters or crime. But what happens when design is used to address social problems like homelessness or mental issues? For example, some designs like anti-homeless spikes or armrests on benches are meant to deter homeless people from using them, but they do not solve the real problem of homelessness itself. The better way is to not displace the real problems but rather confront them and seek long term solutions.

Sharing TED talk on this topic: https://www.ted.com/talks/cara_chellew_rethinking_defensive_urban_design