The Crédit Agricole bank branch (1) on Avenue Colbert in Toulon would undoubtedly have done without this distinction. For its 3rd edition, the Abbé Pierre Foundation nominated it for the “most deceitful anti-homeless device” because of the metal blades installed on the ground in front of the establishment. “Passive aggressive furniture, a discreet, habitual hostility, which blends into the landscape, without appearing to do so, the slightest corner is carefully made impassable”, denounces the Abbé Pierre Foundation.
Pics d’Or
For the organizers of the Pics d'Or, this system is representative in several ways. Already, “it clearly prevents homeless people from settling on this edge, the space is full and it is unthinkable to sit, even with a cardboard box, on these metal slats”. Then, its symbolism: “this is not just any ledge, that of a bank. However, these financial companies are over-represented in the use of anti-homeless street furniture: there are many of them, using all types of installations, to to exclude the presence of homeless people and to want to prevent begging around them. An installation that also stood out “by its originality”, the process being “small, thin, therefore rather discreet”.
Hostile furniture
“With the Pics d'Or, the Foundation warns of the use of urban furniture (grids, spikes, rocks, etc.) which prevent, intentionally or not, people from sitting or lying down in the space public, thus depriving them of any shelter and rest. She also denounces political measures such as anti-begging, anti-bivouac, anti-gleaning orders, hostile to wandering people. communicates the Foundation, which denounces the multiplication of these devices “which increasingly lead to making the city, the street, an inhospitable and dangerous place for the people who are forced there”.
During the previous edition, the furniture of the biblical bookstore, located at 2 rue François Fabié in Toulon, was also nominated. And the Esprit de famille mutual, located at 44 boulevard de Strasbourg, was a winner of the Pics d’Or.
“France today has 330,000 homeless people, including more than 2,000 homeless children. This figure, which has doubled in ten years,” assures Christophe Robert, general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation. For the association, the pushback only shifts the problem.
1. Contacted, Crédit Agricole did not respond to our requests.
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