Thank you for your important question regarding public safety. I completely understand your concern. When designing urban benches, municipalities and designers face the complex challenge of creating welcoming public spaces that are safe and accessible for everyone's intended use.
Modern public benches often incorporate subtle design features to gently discourage activities like prolonged sleeping or skateboarding, while maintaining comfort for legitimate seating. You might notice benches with individual armrests dividing the seating space. These provide support for users standing up or sitting down, but also prevent someone from lying down across the bench. Another common feature is the use of materials and shapes on the bench's edges or surfaces that are not conducive to skateboard grinds or slides, such as rounded, ribbed, or textured ledges.
The primary goal is never to make seating uncomfortable for everyday users like you, a resident taking a break, a tourist enjoying the view, or someone waiting for the bus. The intent is to ensure the bench is available for its core purpose: providing rest in a public space. This approach, often called "hostile architecture" or more neutrally, "defensive design," aims to manage behavior without being overtly aggressive. It's about finding a balance between offering a public amenity and maintaining order, safety, and hygiene in shared spaces.
Ultimately, these design choices are part of a broader strategy for creating vibrant, usable, and secure urban environments for the entire community.