3.2.2 Misuse of public spaces

While the various findings that indicate that public urban spaces offer unique opportunities for social interaction and encounters, further review contradicts this view and indicates that such benefits are challenged by various issues including the misuse of public spaces. In a study by Moss and Moss (2019) it was reported that between the period 2014 to 2017, about 6,518 people were found guilty of rough sleeping under the Vagrancy Act of 1824 in Manchester. The study further indicated that in 2017, about 21 rough sleepers also died on the streets of Manchester owing to a variety of factors including rise in crime and anti-social behaviour such as drug-taking. Similar insights were also reported in a different study byBergamaschi, Castrignanò and Rubertis (2014) who reported that the misuse of public spaces by the homeless arose from the fact that they often considered such spaces as their own private areas as they did not have homes. As a result, the homeless lived their lives openly in public urban spaces, often making money from such spaces through begging and later sleeping within them. Such insights underscore the rising misuse of the public spaces by the homeless as living quarters and sources of shelter as suggested by Moss and Moss (2019) who cited numerous cases of rough sleeping on public spaces. Koprowska et al. (2020) further argue that although the homeless are classified as vulnerable people, their sight within public spaces is often unsettling and leads to perceptions of crime as well as loss of the aesthetics of the urban spaces. A similar view is also highlighted in a different study by Bonds and Martin (2016)who postulated that the homeless were often considered as a form of pollution which ought to be kept out of the city or cleaned. The assertion is however divisive as some of the homeless do not influence their conditions and may only find themselves in such positions. As a result, the authors reported that different strategies have been formulated over the years to rid the urban centers of the homeless, for instance, the implementation of policies that diminish the ability of the homeless accessing the urban centers (Bonds and Martin, 2016). A similar finding was also identified by Moss and Moss (2019) who added that in London, the use of policies such as Homeless Tax were also enforced, whereby, the rough sleepers and beggars who were found sheltering in public doorways and walkways were fined £100 on the spot and imprisoned where they were unable to pay. Nevertheless, the confluence from the different studies (Bonds and Martin, 2016; Moss and Moss, 2019)emphasizes on the consideration of homelessness as a form of pollution of public urban spaces as they destroy their aesthetic appeal and the subsequent need to find strategies that keep them out. Further insight from Koprowska et al. (2020) also reported that public spaces that were strewn with sights of the homeless also had an associated perception of insecurity. Secondly, urban spaces are also misused through the rampant increase in skateboarding activity (Németh, 2006). The argument against skateboarding postulated that teenagers who were prone to such activity were unruly, deviant and disorderly. However, the finding is critiqued as it considers all young teenagers as having the same disorderly and unruly behaviour whereas there are exceptions to the behaviour. A similar finding was also reported in another study by Glenney and Mull (2018)where they added that skateboarding served as a form of subversion of rule governance as individuals use skateboard tricks as a form of self-expression or temporary escape through movement. The consequence of such arguments is that, allowing skateboarding activity within public spaces results in disorder and disregard for the law, hence, leading to the misuse of the spaces. Despite such findings, other studies offer contradictory arguments such as Rogers (2018)who suggested that allowing skateboarding can be beneficial in lowering crime rates, mitigating obesity in the young population and fostering creativity. Rogers (2018) also argues that in some instances, the presence of skaters in the public spaces adds life and activity in the public spaces, thereby, enhancing the excitement levels. A similar insight was further reported by Jane Jacobs, an urbanism scholar, who suggested that skating was healthy and ought to be allowed as part of freedom (Snyder, 2017). Therefore, there is significant controversy against the skateboarding activity within public spaces as some proponents’ advocate for its acceptance whereas others view it as a form of defiance and disorder.