{"id":456,"date":"2021-03-03T09:39:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T08:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/?p=456"},"modified":"2023-09-07T20:31:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T18:31:47","slug":"ad-hoc-defensive-urbanism-or-public-space-paranoia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2021\/03\/03\/ad-hoc-defensive-urbanism-or-public-space-paranoia\/","title":{"rendered":"Ad-hoc Defensive Urbanism or Public Space Paranoia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Over a year ago, the Corona-crisis broke and led to worldwide lockdowns that restricted acces to public space on the grounds of preventing viral spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were bombarded with \u2018nudging\u2019 methods that used tape, stickers and all manner of improvised materials to instruct our behaviour to maintain social distance, where we were allowed to walk, and generally how to follow the \u2018rules\u2019, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first, these interventions were ad-hoc and improvised; circles painted on public greens, stickered dots on sidewalks, and taped arrows here, there and everywhere to guide our way-finding. Whatever material was available, or could be ordered online and promptly delivered, was fair game. The resultant, make-shift interventions are appealing in a strange way; accidental art or fascinating public space hacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soon, early temporary measures became more permanent and spawned a new industry; specially designed social-distancing stickers, customized tape in colour-combinations to suit every occasion, or even better, branded Corona-compliant products offered by those seeing opportunistic publicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?resize=580%2C435&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?resize=1980%2C1485&amp;ssl=1 1980w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?w=2016&amp;ssl=1 2016w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_6334-kopie.jpg?w=1740&amp;ssl=1 1740w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>These anti-viral interventions, whether ad-hoc or planned, bear resemblance to defensive urbanism, an urban-design strategy using elements of public infrastructure to intentionally guide or restrict public behaviour, typically in efforts to prevent crime and to uphold civic order. It seems ironic that recognised methods of hostile urban design, like dividers on public benches to stop homeless sleeping, can now also be read as a ligitimate social distancing measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will world-wide mass vaccination free us from this public space paranoia? Or is pandemic-proof design in public space here to stay, as a new form of defensive urbanism? And what shape will it take? Time will tell.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over a year ago, the Corona-crisis broke and led to worldwide lockdowns that restricted acces to public space on the grounds of preventing viral spread. We were bombarded with \u2018nudging\u2019 methods that used tape, stickers and all manner of improvised materials to instruct our behaviour to maintain social distance, where we were allowed to walk, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,75,54],"tags":[7,30,35,50,36,34,37,19,14],"class_list":["post-456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corona-files","category-hostile-architecture","category-rotterdam","tag-corona","tag-covid-19","tag-defensive-urbanism","tag-hostile-architecture","tag-hostile-public-space","tag-nudging","tag-public-amenities","tag-rotterdam","tag-social-distancing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_8146-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":869,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2023\/01\/19\/whos-afraid-of-the-weena\/","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":0},"title":"The Weena Trilogy, Part II: Who&#8217;s afraid of the Weena?","author":"Floorvand","date":"19 January 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The same week I published my critical column about the offensive measure at the Weena (see previous post), an interesting intervention popped up in my IG feed. A temporary grind rail has been installed at the \u2018crime scene\u2019, using the same stone strips I stumbled over - literally and metaphorically\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hostile Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hostile Architecture","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/hostile-architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/23mm_Juul_NB-11-1-edited-e1695720076944.jpg?fit=1106%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/23mm_Juul_NB-11-1-edited-e1695720076944.jpg?fit=1106%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/23mm_Juul_NB-11-1-edited-e1695720076944.jpg?fit=1106%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/23mm_Juul_NB-11-1-edited-e1695720076944.jpg?fit=1106%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/23mm_Juul_NB-11-1-edited-e1695720076944.jpg?fit=1106%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1349,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2024\/10\/08\/strippin-rotterdam\/","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":1},"title":"Strippin&#8217; Rotterdam","author":"Floorvand","date":"8 October 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This summer, I was approached by de Strip architects from Brussels if I was interested in a collaboration. I have been following them for a while, and we have a lot in common. So, of course, I said yes!Together, we explored the urban spaces of Rotterdam. We also had a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hostile Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hostile Architecture","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/hostile-architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Q8_DzoKTn1g\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":799,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2022\/12\/13\/double-trouble-at-the-weena\/","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":2},"title":"The Weena Trilogy, Part I: Double  Trouble at the Weena","author":"Floorvand","date":"13 December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A while ago I wrote on Instagram about the defensive intervention I stumbled over in front of the Weenahouse in Rotterdam. Just a short recap, to refresh the memory: Double trouble! Or no, triple trouble! or should I say tripping trouble? Stone strips are glued onto the pavement of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hostile Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hostile Architecture","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/hostile-architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_8746-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_8746-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_8746-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG_8746-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":609,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2021\/08\/25\/hostile-hospitality-in-bruges\/","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":3},"title":"Hostile Hospitality in Bruges","author":"Floorvand","date":"25 August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Of all the creative disciplines involved in public space \u2013 industrial design, (landscape)architecture, urbanism \u2013 the arts hold a special position. An artist can operate relatively free of the constraints imposed by the demands of a client or institution. For they are their own client, their views and obsessions are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hostile Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hostile Architecture","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/hostile-architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Birdseye_view-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C907&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Birdseye_view-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C907&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Birdseye_view-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C907&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Birdseye_view-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C907&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Birdseye_view-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C907&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1031,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2023\/09\/06\/the-weena-trilogy-part-iii\/","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":4},"title":"The Weena Trilogy, Part III: Walking along that Wonderful Weena","author":"Floorvand","date":"6 September 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought I knew it by heart but the Weena still holds secrets for me. This sign caught my eye last week during the 'Wonderful Weena Walk' organized by OMI Rotterdam led architectural historian Johanna van Doorn and yours truly. The sign is the Dutch equivalent of 'No Trespassing'. So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hostile Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hostile Architecture","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/hostile-architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_3692-1-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_3692-1-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_3692-1-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_3692-1-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_3692-1-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1499,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2026\/01\/20\/stedelijke-ongastvrijheid-in-rotterdam\/","url_meta":{"origin":456,"position":5},"title":"Stedelijke ongastvrijheid in Rotterdam","author":"Floorvand","date":"20 January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2025 debuteerde ik als publicist voor Vers Beton, h\u00e9t online platform voor onafhankelijke Rotterdamse journalistiek. 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