Want people to feel safe in your town centre? Activate it!

Performers outside Barking Station as part of Activation Station

Street Space are excited to share results from our latest action research study outside one of London’s top ten busiest stations. The research found that by encouraging and enabling ‘activation’ such as busking and performance by local artists and musicians you can help people feel safer.

As part of Activation Station, we worked with London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Be First and community members to test ideas to improve the perceptions of safety reported by residents and visitors to Barking station. Over a three month period we designed and installed planters, seating, art work and curated a programme of lively performances including Irish and African dancing, a brass band and acoustic singing.

A survey of over 500 participants taking place before and after the pilots were installed found that interventions increased the numbers of people who felt safe outside the station by almost 30%. The study also revealed that during the pilot the perception of anti-social behaviour outside the station was reduced by 28% along with an increase in the number of people who would meet a friend outside the station.

Results from our Activation Station pilot

One local told us, “I think people act differently around the new changes — people stay and spend time in the space, they sit on the planters, it’s a beautiful place to relax because of the plants. I feel much more comfortable here, as though I belong.”

Irish Dancing at Barking Station

By collaborating with local community organisation Roding Rubbish we were able to plant and maintain the planting throughout the trial period whilst boosting levels of pride and community spirit.

It’s been interesting to see how relatively simple and low cost it can be to change how safe people feel in a space — it’s not always about the design of the permanent space, how it’s activated and what behaviour is encouraged through the design has an enormous part to play. Our research highlights the importance of local authority departments working together to create an enabling culture and environment for local performers, artists and community members to bring streets and spaces to life for the benefit of everyone!

Community planting day to install planters & seating

Get in touch if you’re interested in understanding complex behavioural issues in the public realm and how creative approaches can help shift perceptions and reimagine how people feel in a street or space.

Big thanks to all our local community partners and collaborators who helped to make Activation Station such a success!