Homelessness is defined as when an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, such as those living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or places not meant for habitation. The homeless community of Miami, especially in the downtown area has been growing increasingly over the years. Miami has the highest number of homeless population in all of Florida with almost 4,000 individuals. 

Finding safe shelter is crucial to safety, and even more so in areas in Miami that are generally considered extremely dangerous. Access to shelter within this community is incredibly difficult to come by. There are many factors that contribute to this, one of them being Anti-homeless architecture. The most common examples of this architectural design may include spikes on the floor or split park benches. This type of design targets and affects the homeless community who are often looking for public places to reside in, by purposefully restricting their access to an area.

It Is important to realize that this is a problem that is occurring throughout all of the United States, not just in Miami, FL and is affecting 553,742 people country-wide. With homeless shelters being hard to get into, and anti-homeless architecture, safe spaces to reside in are very limited. If this is not fixed, the homeless community has no option but to turn to unsafe locations and potentially risk their lives.