Her Barking

Her Barking is a women-led movement, experimenting to collaboratively design and test low cost interventions to make streets and spaces feel safe. In Barking, 51% of residents do not feel safe after dark, compared to a national average of 21%. The majority of these residents are women, older people and disabled people.

In 2018 Street Space launched Her Barking, engaging residents to identify spaces where people don't feel safe and collaboratively design and test a number of installations across Barking Town Centre as part of London Festival of Architecture 2019.

With funding from The National Lottery, in 2019 we were able to fund the collaborative design and delivery of a semi-permanent intervention in St Awdry's Walk. A hanging canopy of shapes and crowdsourced messages designed by Hanna Benihoud was installed in February 2020 and has led to two further Street Space pilot projects on perceptions of safety outside Barking Station. Watch the video below to find out more.

This project has been included in the following publications as an important example of best practice in this emerging field: Mayor of London Safety in Public Space, Arup’s Cycling for Everyone report and the Mayor of London High Street Design Challenge playbook.