A sense of safety is much more complex than avoidance of crime. For women, girls and gender diverse people, the daily inconvenience of having to consistently take a longer route home to avoid certain areas, hold their keys between their fists, having to carry a buggy up steps, or being underserved by public transport systems creates a daily low-level exposure to physical and psychological harm. This sends the message that public space is not 'for' us. 

Some 71 per cent of all women living in London aged 16-64, are part of London’s workforce. A survey of 8,000 Londoners found that 74 per cent of female respondents feel worried about their safety some, or even all of the time, and 68 per cent worry about harassment on public transport. If women feel unsafe in the existing public realm, how will this impact London’s culture and economy? 

Female employees choosing to work from home to avoid unsafe commutes into London, could reduce demand for office spaces, weakening the commercial real estate market over time. Safety concerns may affect women’s willingness to take on jobs requiring evening work or long commutes. This could exacerbate gender inequality in the workplace and limit women’s professional opportunities. Pubs, restaurants, theatres, and clubs may experience reduced patronage, especially during evening hours, which can affect the vitality of London's nightlife. 

Feelings of safety in London have declined, and this is due to the specific experiences, needs, and realities of women, girls, and gender diverse people being excluded in urban development processes. It is essential that those who design, produce and deliver our public spaces and infrastructure feel informed about gender inclusion and can build it into the processes that create our city. This requires all of London’s public realm projects to take concerted action. 

A sense of belonging fosters a sense of ease, joy and a right to be in public space. It also increases the likelihood of community members being active participants in shaping and reshaping public space. “We need to champion projects that embed inclusion, ensure the built environment sector has diverse representation at all levels, monitor impact and most importantly listen to the experiences of women, girls and gender diverse people” – Jules Pipe CBE, Deputy Mayor of London. 

The ‘Safety in Public Space: Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People’ handbook, first published in 2022, has been updated to support built environment practitioners to act towards gender inclusion in their public realm projects throughout the project lifecycle. It offers a set of practical actions that can be taken by project teams to meet gender inclusion ambitions.

The handbook and practical actions were tested and trialled across 10 live public realm projects across London, through 19 workshops, with the support of Mayor’s Design Advocates. The actions are interspersed with lessons from these 10 projects and inspiring case studies to understand and suggest how a gender inclusive approach could meaningfully shape the engagement, design, delivery, governance, use and management of public realm. The guidance was also shared with the GLA through a series of training workshops. 

The handbook lays out key principles of safety and gender inclusion that urban developers and projects should be familiar with. This was developed through an extensive literature review, as well as interviews and workshops with experts and practitioners from London’s built environment sector. 

This is a call to action. With gender-based violence declared a national emergency in England and Wales, addressing gender safety is increasingly urgent. It is incumbent on the built environment sector to recognise this issue for the emergency it is and create inclusive and accessible public spaces where everyone feels safe, welcomed and free from intimidation and harassment.