Street Debater

A way to discontinue begging for homeless people.

2017 ~ 2019

Summary

Job for bridging social divides.
A way to discontinue begging for homeless people.

Street debating is a job aimed at bridging the social divide by creating a platform for open dialogue. During the my time at Delft University of Technology, this job was conceived as a new method for homeless people in Europe to earn money without losing their dignity, offering an alternative to begging. Street debate uses a board with a question written on it, and a balance-like tool with two options for answers, inviting passers-by to cast their vote. Through the debate, money is placed on the scales, making public opinion visible. The interactions that take place are not based on a "giver" and "receiver" relationship, but rather on friendly dialogue, and through these interactions, it is hoped to rebuild the connection between the homeless and society. In fact, there are individuals who got out of the streets in London through this job.
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ストリートディベートは、オープンな対話の場を作ることで社会的な分断を繋ぐ仕事です。筆者がデルフト工科大学院の在籍時に、欧州の路上生活者がものごい以外の方法で尊厳を失わずに金銭を得る新しい方法として、この仕事は考案されました。ストリートディベートは質問が書かれたボードと、その回答を示す2つのオプションが書かれた天秤型のツールを使って、通りすがりの人々に投票を呼びかけます。ディベートを通じて、天秤の皿にお金が投じられ、その結果として世論が可視化されます。そこで行われるやりとりは「支援する者」と「支援される者」の関係ではなく、あくまで友好的な対話であり、これらを通して路上生活者と社会との繋がりを再建することが期待されています。実際に、この仕事を通じてロンドンでの路上生活を脱却した方もいます。

Research Findings

Begging is an act of discarding one's dignity.

As part of a student project at TU Delft, I interviewed twenty-six people who were begging on the streets of London and in Amsterdam. Through these contextual interviews, I discovered that many of them were struggling to keep their dignity intact because when a person begs, they are throwing away their dignity in exchange for a few coins.

Project Goal

How can we create ways to prevent early stage homeless people from begging on the street and losing their dignity?

I arrived at the hypothesis that long-term begging leads to a gradual loss of self-confidence and dignity. While most people begin to beg temporarily, many continue to do so continuously. And the longer someone begs on a daily basis, the harder it becomes for them to find employment and connect back with society on more equal terms.

When people continue temporal begging for too long it becomes difficult for them to go back to having a steady job.

How can we make more alternative ways avoid temporal begging all together?

Insights from prototyping

Conversation as an equal is essential to one's dignity.

I conducted co-design with the people who were begging on the street to come up different ways of earning money on the street. Most prototypes failed but one intervention before the US election in 2016 worked. It was by using multiple cups to ask questions. This stopped many people for a friendly chat. I realised that this conversation aspect was crucial. For people who beg or do not have a home, conversation as an equal rarely occurs, but it is essential to one’s dignity.

Me doing street prototyping on the go

People were having political debate, nothing to do with that have nothing to do with homelessness.

sketch of how most people interact with people begging.

The improved interaction with the two cups.

Approach

Deploying a scale that creates debate and income on the street.

To enhance the conversation aspect of the interaction, the scale-like product was developed. The product was handed out to people who were begging on the streets in London.

Data is open-sourced and anyone can make it

The two colours were based from what would stand out on the street.

Results

One person getting off the streets with street debating by earning 70 pounds per day for 3 month.

One homeless street debater in London used this for more than 3 month and got off the streets with the money he earned. He now has a place to stay and a steady job. On average he earned 70 pounds per day and the maximum money he earned per day was 180 pounds.

Next Steps

Anyone can be a Street Debater with the open-sourced design

Street debating is not just a thing for homeless people. From politicians to chefs, anybody can become a street debater to question the society. The device data is open source and can be made by anyone. You might bump into some random street debaters on the street.
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*Disclaimer :
This project is never to be understood as the "solution" to the huge problem of homelessness and begging.

Awards

IxDA Interaction Awards 2019 : Finalist
WIRED Creative Hack Award 2017 : Grand Prix

Appearance

Exhibition - Kunsthal KaDe 2019 : Balancing Acts
Presentation - Design Indaba Global Graduates

Project Details

Date » 2016 ~ 2018
Project's Nature » Student project at TU Delft

Credit

My Role » Solo-project
Mentor » Stefan van de Geer, Mark van Huystee

Press Coverage

Dezeen » "Street Debater tool helps homeless people earn money without begging"
WIRED JAPAN » "「ものごい」の代替手段 : ストリートディベーターという職業が、路上生活者を社会復帰に導く"

Tomo Kihara

/ 木原共

Street Debater

Job for bridging social divides.
A way to discontinue begging for homeless people.

Begging is an act of discarding one's dignity.

How can we create ways to prevent early stage homeless people from begging on the street and losing their dignity?

Conversation as an equal is essential to one's dignity.

Deploying a scale that creates debate and income on the street.

One person getting off the streets with street debating by earning 70 pounds per day for 3 month.

Anyone can be a Street Debater with the open-sourced design

Street Debater

Job for bridging social divides. A way to discontinue begging for homeless people.

Begging is an act of discarding one's dignity.

How can we create ways to prevent early stage homeless people from begging on the street and losing their dignity?

Conversation as an equal is essential to one's dignity.

Deploying a scale that creates debate and income on the street.

One person getting off the streets with street debating by earning 70 pounds per day for 3 month.

Anyone can be a Street Debater with the open-sourced design

Job for bridging social divides.
A way to discontinue begging for homeless people.