How Hong Kong’s homeless are kept out of sight by urban design

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A homeless man shaves in his makeshift shack in Sham Shui Po on June 21. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 6:31pm, 13 Aug 2018Updated: 10:51pm, 13 Aug 2018

I refer to the article, “Priced out and living above a rubbish dump: where do Hong Kong’s rough sleepers go?” (August 12).

Against the overwhelming daytime cityscape of wealth and prosperity, many vulnerable homeless people in Hong Kong are still sleeping in public spaces at night. They are at the mercy of traffic noise and pollution, as well as the vagaries of the weather, and have to put up with pests such as rats and woodlice.

What makes their situation more uncomfortable and forbidding is a series of pervasive urban homeless deterrence facilities. These include benches in public spaces, including parks, that have bulky armrests and vertical slats between each seat, and backrests that only allow one to lean back but deter lying down.

City dwellers may rarely notice all these unfriendly designs that are incorporated into local public spaces, commonly found in older and poorer districts like Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po and Yau Ma Tei.

These often-disguised elements are designed to keep homeless people and signs of poverty out of sight. These installations are a strong indication of the silent yet determined attitude of the authorities to dissuade street sleepers and the poor from occupying them.

Watch: Hong Kong’s hostile architecture hurts city’s homeless and poor

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