“Hostile” or “defensive” design gained traction in the late 20th century as cities tried to manage skateboarders, loitering, and visible homelessness with hardware: anti-homeless spikes, segmented benches, anti-skate “studs,” and other deterrents. It protected property, sure, but it also made spaces less usable and less human.
Editorial
Designing for Trust: Why Public Spaces Should Invite, Not Exclude
In every city, the design of public space sends a message. Some spaces feel open and welcoming, inviting you to linger, play, or explore. Others send the opposite signal: using form and material to control how they’re used, or to discourage certain activities entirely.
A Brief History of Hostile Design
Trust in Practice: Two Case Studies
Today, a different approach is taking hold. Many landscape architects and cities are rethinking these defensive strategies, replacing them with design that welcomes interaction, celebrates diverse uses, and builds trust between the public and the places they share. The goal is no longer to keep certain behaviours out, but to invite as many different ones in as possible.
Rabalder Park, Roskilde, Denmark. Landscape Architecture: Nord Architects. Image: LYTT Architecture.
Rabalder Park, Roskilde (Denmark)
This innovative park, designed by Nord Architects in Denmark, combines flood control with public engagement. Dry, it's a highly skateable landscape with bowls, ramps, and performance spaces, designed for youth and play. When it rains, those same surfaces become stormwater retention basins, holding up to 23,000 m³ (about 10 Olympic pools) of runoff. It's infrastructure you can skate on, not just avoid.
Montréal’s Quartier des Spectacles, Esplanade Tranquille. Image: FABG.
Esplanade Tranquille, Montreal (Canada)
Part of Montréal’s Quartier des Spectacles, Esplanade Tranquille (designed by Fauteux and FABG) morphs with the seasons: in summer, the space features splash fountains, relaxed “backyard”-style seating, and playful furniture; in winter, it becomes a refrigerated skating rink. It’s designed for families, performances, and civic life, welcoming touch, play, and gathering year‑round.
Designing With, Not Against, the Public
Progressive cities are shifting from restrictive design to inclusive urbanism. Designers now build public spaces for multiple uses and unexpected interactions, even when that includes wear and weather.
Touch-positive environments—those encouraging physical interaction—boost dwell time and social bonds. That means more connection, not less control.
Weston Group Center - Trenerry Square. Landscape Architecture: Red Box Design Group. Green Theory design partner Street + Garden. Image: Florian Groehn.
At Green Theory, that translates into design decisions that favour multipurpose spaces: integrated planters that double as cozy reading nooks or open gathering hubs, benches that curve to invite conversation, not segmentation, and outdoor kitchens agile enough for a public demo or private event.
Trust as a Design Material
Public spaces thrive when they trust people to engage with them flexibly. That might mean skateboarding next to seating, splashing in a fountain, or leaning against a planter. Trust doesn’t dismiss maintenance; it embeds resilience without erasing joy.
The public space we love most says “stay, explore, feel at home,” not “move along.” That’s the civic expression we believe in, and the kind of spaces we're proud to contribute to.
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