A bench removed to prevent sleeping also removes somewhere to wait, recover, or grow old.

A bench removed to stop people sleeping on it also stops an elderly person resting halfway home, a parent sitting with a child, someone waiting for a lift. The design targets one use and eliminates all the others, and the people who lose most are the ones who were never the point.

When a public space feels subtly unwelcoming, look for what has been removed or made uncomfortable. And when you hear a change justified by preventing one behaviour, ask what else it prevents. That question is usually not asked by the people making the decision.