Hostile Architecture Interview on KJZZ NPR Phoenix

I spoke with KJZZ NPR Phoenix about Hostile Architecture and public space equity. The story was cross-posted on the Fronteras Desk.

Excerpt:

BRODIE: What are the conversations like about this among your colleagues and other people who do what you do? . . .

PACHECO BELL: A lot of times city planners get blamed for this, but in fact, it’s oftentimes not city planners that are deciding to add hostile architecture. Rather, it’s the absence of mechanisms within city planning to deal with it. One of my longstanding critiques.

So, yes, there are instances where public agencies or the state might support the addition of hostile architecture, but there are also many instances where the private sector is doing this.

You have sometimes groups that form together to create hostile architecture to add in public space, to drive away those who they deem undesirable, and then sometimes you have sort of lone wolf individuals.

So this is a multidimensional issue. This is a multidimensional public space equity issue with a lot of people involved in it. My critique is that the urban planning field has done very little to address it.

The sharpest critiques that are coming out right now about hostile architecture are coming from the citizen journalists, young people on TikTok. And that is giving me hope that we’re going to have a turning point where we can start really talking about this as an international public space equity issue driven by young people on social media.