Part 2: A multidisciplinary, cross-sector approach to the protection of public spaces

“First, adopt an open, transdisciplinary, cross-sector approach to the understanding of the problem, not topdown, not just tech, not expert only. Think of a public space as a canvas that is never completely white or neutral. Start with understanding the context and take into account all of it: physical site specs, recent history, background stories, trauma, cultural identity and iconic markers that make it a memorable space.”

(EAC), a group of 14 specialists from various disciplines including ar chitects, cultural geographers, security and cross-border cooperation experts. It also included a partnership-based course between the Sus tainable Design School of Nice (now called Besign School) and the PACTESUR project, which focused its research on the need to apply human-centred design approaches to security.

For 35 years, Efus has been advocating the co-production of security policies involving a wide range of local stakeholders from the public and private sector as well as citizen participation.

Public spaces require that cities and local governments work in partner ship with different stakeholders and organisations, which should include urban planners, first responders, mobility services, local businesses, academia and civil society. Indeed, the security of public spaces is not only the prerogative of the police, nor just a matter of using more technol ogy or exclusively reserved to specialists. Rather, it is the responsibility of a variety of actors representing different disciplines and backgrounds.

The need for a multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary approach to urban public spaces is highlighted by the very nature of the PACTESUR project, which involved not only partner cities and regions, but also a working group of associated cities18 and an Expert Advisory Committee

17- Laetitia Wolff is a design impact consultant and instructor. She led the partnership-based course between the Sustainable Design School of Nice (now called Besign School) and the PACTESUR project, introducing an experimental action-research and a creative, human-centred design approach to security. See also Chapter 2, Security by Design: how to render public spaces both safe and open to all

18- The PACTESUR project included a working group of 11 associated cities (Athens, Edinburgh, Essen, Gdańsk, Leeds, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Munich, Riga and Xàbia) that had specific issues and knowledge on the protection of public spaces.

Apart from discussing conventional or protective measures such as policing, technology, bollards or barriers, the PACTESUR project explored what could be termed as soft measures aimed at encouraging citizens to appropriate such spaces through art, the design itself of these spaces, or the involvement of local businesses and civil society organisations. The aim is to ensure that these spaces are inhabited, lively and attractive, which makes them reassuring, as opposed to deserted public spaces that citizens avoid because they seem aban doned, or on the contrary overly secured spaces where barriers and technology can seem daunting and deter attendance. This is an area where local authorities have plenty of margin to intervene by mobilis ing and coordinating a wide array of local actors from the public and private sector.

Ensuring a minimum threshold of security that enables other civic values

“Rather than asking how ‘to build (ever) more secure and safer public spaces’, we should perhaps be exploring ways to ensure a minimum threshold of security that enables other civic values, social pursuits and public goods to flourish; where regulation is parsimonious and non-intrusive in ways that, wherever possible, foster self-regulation by citizens.”

Adam Crawford, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Leeds

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Laetitia Wolff, Design Impact Consultant and Instructor, Associate Partner of PACTESUR17

Designing and managing safe public spaces is one of the four areas of work of the four-year, Efus-led IcARUS project, which seeks to build on 30 years of urban security policies and practices to help local security actors better anticipate and respond to security challenges.

The University of Leeds conducted a research study that assessed the trends, tensions and fault-lines that have characterised shifts over time in the design and regulation of safe public spaces across Europe and beyond19. It points out four tendencies:

1. Tendency to alter the built and physical environment so as to “design out” criminogenic opportunities; often infused with logics of “preven tive exclusion”, and overt surveillance as deterrence.

2. The intervention logics have drawn attention away from the situated and contextualised features of local places – with less attention to “what works”, “where” and “for whom”. And simultaneously with little regard to which groups of people benefit from particular interventions or design features in a particular place/situation at a specific time.

3. Technological solutions outweigh human solutions in regard to ad dressing security concerns. There has been little attention to the inter section between social and technological processes.

4. Over-securitisation of public spaces: in the quest for security, the im plementation of solutions may foster perceptions of insecurities by alerting citizens to risks, heightening sensibilities and scattering the world with visible reminders of threat.

In practice: a multi-stakeholder, comprehensive strategy to protect public spaces in Gdańsk (Poland)

In practice: a multi-stakeholder, comprehensive strategy to protect public spaces in Gdańsk (Poland)

19- Efus, IcARUS (2021). The Changing Face of Urban Security Research: A Review of Accumulated Learning, University of Leeds.

Following the assassination of Mayor Pawel Adamowicz during a public event in 2019, the City of Gdańsk (Poland), one of PACTESUR’s 11 associated cities, developed a strategy aimed at increasing the capacity to respond to future security threats in public spaces.

Following the assassination of Mayor Pawel Adamowicz during a public event in 2019, the City of Gdańsk (Poland), one of PACTESUR’s 11 associated cities, developed a strategy aimed at increasing the capacity to respond to future security threats in public spaces.

The strategy included the rebuilding of the Municipal Crisis Manage ment Centre, the improvement of the communication and management system, the development of a CCTV network as well as other technical and architectural elements contributing to safer public spaces.

The strategy included the rebuilding of the Municipal Crisis Management Centre, the improvement of the communication and management system, the development of a CCTV network as well as other technical and architectural elements contrib uting to safer public spaces.

A number of municipal and national organisations were involved in the project, including the Department for Security and Crisis Management, the municipal police, the national police, the Internal Security Agency, the Municipal Security Agency, the fire brigade, Gdańsk Real Estate, the Gdańsk Road and Greenery Authority, private security companies, anti-terrorism specialists and volunteer groups. The PACTESUR project and the experience shared by the other partner cities were a great source of inspiration for its new strategy. This project will serve as the foundation for the whole safety manage ment system of the city for the coming years.

A number of municipal and national organisations were involved in the project, including the Department for Security and Crisis Management, the municipal police, the national police, the Internal Security Agency, the Municipal Security Agency, the fire brigade, Gdańsk Real Estate, the Gdańsk Road and Greenery Authority, private security companies, anti-ter rorism specialists and volunteer groups. The PACTESUR project and the experience shared by the other partner cities were a great source of inspiration for its new strategy.

This project will serve as the foundation for the whole safety management system of the city for the coming years.

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2.1 Community involvement

The PACTESUR project, and also other European projects we as Efus are (or have been) involved in, as well our permanent work with our member cities on the issue of the security of public spaces, all point out to a recurring theme: the need to involve and associate citizens in the development and management of safe public spaces. Indeed, experi ence shows that when citizens are involved in the life of their neigh bourhood, including security, they feel a sense of belonging and attach more value to their own city and neighbourhood, including local public spaces, and this in turn tends to reduce disorder and crime. The question is: how? What means, or schemes, work best to encourage citizen participation?

The general consensus among Efus member cities and partners is that the first step is to identify community needs, existing resources and avail able support (for example civil society organisations and volunteer networks). Most, if not all, local authorities already collaborate with civil society organisations on a range of local public issues. These can provide a good starting point for engaging local communities in order to evaluate feelings of (in)security in a given public space, or before implementing any new preventive measure or scheme, or during and in the aftermath of an incident. The analysis should also include how dif ferent groups of population use a given public space.

A second step consists of directly engaging with individual members or representative groups of the local community, such as local residents who are well respected by the local community, faith leaders, leaders of vol unteer associations, etc. Some of these actors have the ability to engage with and influence multiple spaces, including domestic, professional, social and cultural.20

Yet another practice quite commonly used in cities is to organise ex ploratory walks whereby members of the public representing different groups of population (women, or senior citizens for example) walk through specific public spaces, generally at night, and note down all the elements that contribute to feeling insecure, such as poor or lack of street lighting, or threatening graffiti. These reports give local authori ties and urban planning decision-makers precious direct information on how citizens experience any given public spaces.

20- See also In practice: the Strong Cities Network’s detailed toolkit.

In practice: Crime Prevention Councils

In practice: a multi-stakeholder, com prehensive strategy to protect public spaces in Gdańsk (Poland)

Another avenue to engage citizens is through the establish ment of Local Security or Crime Prevention Councils (LCPC), a governance structure that has been used, notably in France, since the mid-1980s as part of national public policies on crime prevention in order to bring together a large array of stakeholders involved in local urban security.

Following the assassination of Mayor Pawel Adamowicz during a public event in 2019, the City of Gdańsk (Poland), one of PACTESUR’s 11 associated cities, developed a strategy aimed at increasing the capacity to respond to future security threats in public spaces.

LCPCs aim to promote multisectoral and interdisciplinary col laboration and ensure that all voices are heard, not only those of security stakeholders but also those of citizens. As such, the LCCP in Piraeus (Greece) brings together various municipal departments, criminology experts, first-line practitioners and NGOs. It seeks to foster a climate of security and trust and to acquire a better picture of citizens’ daily lives in order to identify their needs and challenges.

The strategy included the rebuilding of the Municipal Crisis Manage ment Centre, the improvement of the communication and management system, the development of a CCTV network as well as other technical and architectural elements contributing to safer public spaces.

A number of municipal and national organisations were involved in the project, including the Department for Security and Crisis Management, the municipal police, the national police, the Internal Security Agency, the Municipal Security Agency, the fire brigade, Gdańsk Real Estate, the Gdańsk Road and Greenery Authority, private security companies, anti-terrorism specialists and volunteer groups. The PACTESUR project and the experience shared by the other partner cities were a great source of inspiration for its new strategy.

This objective is also shared by the City of Montreuil (France), where the Local Council for Security and Crime Prevention (CLSPD according to the French acronym) aims to encourage the participation of residents. However, this remains a chal lenge because it means identifying and operationalising effi cient communication channels with citizens as well as methods and tools to facilitate their involvement in the CLSPD’s work.

This project will serve as the foundation for the whole safety manage ment system of the city for the coming years.

More information on the BeSecure-FeelSecure project here.

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In practice: the role of citizens in emergency planning

Recent climate disasters, such as the summer 2021 floods in Belgium and the 2020 Storm Alex in the south of France, showed the importance of involving citizens as early as possible in the prevention and response to such crises. The ALARM project (2017-2021), in which Efus was a partner, devoted much of its work to the role of citizens in emergency planning. The project thus organised a seminar on the Communal Reserves for Civil Protection (Réserves Commu nales de Sécurité Civile) created by several French towns and cities, including Nice, which led PACTESUR21.

These are groups of volunteers who can support professional responders, such as nurses, radio technicians, electricians, plumbers and carpenters who can, for example, set up a shelter, help clear up debris, or cordon off damaged buildings. Volunteers played a big part in the relief effort during the floods in Belgium and actually saved lives. However, this type of intervention must be well organised. Volunteers should be trained and their role should be clearly defined as part of the emergency response. It should be noted that they are also potential future recruits for the emergency services.

As such, direct citizen initiatives should be complementary to policies and schemes implemented by the local/regional authority (mayor or other), rather than supersede them. This requires that the local author ity monitor such initiatives and ideally is in contact with their promoters.

Furthermore, some types of citizen schemes or initiatives call for proper training, notably those that touch on civil protection such as the above-mentioned Communal Reserves for Civil Protection. More broadly, citizens or local businesses who volunteer in activities of sur veillance, control, and assistance to the public in case of an accident, an attack or a disaster should be known to public authorities, and duly informed and trained.

2.2 Security by Design: how to render public spaces both safe and open to all

Some points of attention

This said, involving citizens in public space protection can be complex. Not all grassroots initiatives are necessarily legitimate and should be supported by the local authority (an obvious example is that of vigilan tes). It is important to always keep a healthy balance between the public authority that has received a mandate from the electorate and initiatives pushed by groups of citizens who do not necessarily repre sent the population as a whole.

21- See Annex 3 for a more detailed description of the ALARM project.

Numerous studies have shown that the planning, design and manage ment of public spaces have an impact on security and on people’s feelings of insecurity. This is commonly referred to as Security by Design (SbD), whereby security features are addressed from the very beginning of the conception and design of a public space, taking into account its inherent openness and integration in the urban landscape. This approach can help balance efforts to increase urban resilience whilst promoting the open and inclusive character of public spaces.22 A different iteration of this approach is Crime Prevention through Urban Design and Planning (CP-UDP), a concept applied in the Cutting Crime Impact (CCI) European project, in which Efus was a partner.23 CP-UDP seeks to positively impact the behaviour of users by embedding protec tive physical features and encouraging prosocial behaviour through good design and place management.

22- Urban Agenda (2020). EU Partnership on Security in Public Space.

23- Efus, CCI (2020). Factsheet on Crime Prevention through Urban Design.

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What is the Security by Design (SbD) approach?

As defined by the Partnership on the Security of Public Spaces of the Urban Agenda for the EU, Security by Design (SbD) is an “all-encom passing concept and a new culture that needs to be developed across European cities. It deals with the conception of city planning, urban archi tecture and furniture, flows, and infrastructures in accordance with security issues from the start. It concerns the protection of buildings, public spaces, critical infrastructures, detection methods and technologies.”

In other words, this approach builds on knowledge from physical pro tection, site and target hardening, access control, and surveillance techniques such as CCTV. It is based on the principles of urban resil ience, quality of life in cities, inclusiveness, feelings of (in)security, the co-production of security, and the use of new digital technologies or behavioural sciences.

SbD is also known as Defensible Space, Crime Prevention through Urban Design, Planning and Management, Secured by Design, Design Against Crime, and – worldwide the most widely used term (see ISO 22341:2021)

– Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED).

What is Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)?

This approach aims to prevent crime, including terrorism, as well as anti-social behaviour and feelings of insecurity. CPTED implies two concepts, both physical and social, which must both be thoroughly tackled in order to implement effective solutions. The approach must always include all stakeholders and actors from all levels of society and from diverse professional backgrounds and expertise. CPTED focuses on a specific area/environment and involves evidence-based action. To function effectively, the approach must be both time and site specific, focusing for example on a particular building. It has proven effective when carefully and accurately targeted, as seen for example in the Netherlands and the UK.24

24- Efus, CCI (2020). Factsheet on Crime Prevention through Urban Design.

Background: the situational crime prevention approach

In the 1980s, Ronald V. Clarke developed the situational crime preven tion approach.25 It focuses on systematic and permanent management, design, or manipulation of the immediate environment, and is directed at specific types of crimes. Situational crime prevention focuses on the settings where crime occurs, rather than on the people committing specific criminal acts. Within the situational crime prevention approach, Cornish and Clarke (2003) proposed 25 strategies and tech niques to prevent and reduce crime.26

In practice: identifying the most suitable local investments for protecting public spaces

The SbD approach was central in all the work carried out by the PACTESUR project. One of the four pillars of the project was the identification of the most suitable local investment for securing open and tourist-friendly public spaces through the development of pilot security equipment/infrastructure in the project’s partner cities – Nice, Liège and Turin – that could be transferred to other European cities. Particular at tention was given to their integration into the urban land scape, natural and cultural heritage, aesthetics, design and urban mobility to avoid the so-called “bunkerisation” of cities. These security devices were considered as complemen tary tools that contribute to security in public spaces but by no means a solution per se.

25- Clarke, R. V. (1995) Situational Crime Prevention, Crime and Justice (Vol. 19), Building a Safer Society: Strategic Approaches to Crime Prevention, pp. 91-150.

26- Cornish, D.B., and Clarke, R.V. (2003) Opportunities, Precipitators and Criminal Decisions: A Reply to Wortley’s Critique of Situational Crime Prevention. See Annex 1 for a more detailed description of the 25 techniques of situational prevention.

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In Nice, a reinforced anti-intrusion device to protect the Promenade des Anglais was developed, notably to prevent attacks similar to the one perpetrated on 14 July 2016 by a ram lorry.

In Liège, a mobile vehicle barrier to protect the Place Saint Lambert and Le Carré was set up.

In Turin, a high-tech crowd control system was installed in Piazza Vittorio Veneto with the aim of avoiding panic move ments, in the wake of the June 2017 disaster during an outdoor projection of the Champions League football final.

In practice: guide for the integration of security systems in public spaces, Brussels-Capital Region

The Brussels-Capital Region, represented by safe.brussels, developed a guide for public space operators, managers and designers explaining the main principles of public space physical security, with a particular focus on terrorist and ex tremist threats and, more specifically, on ram vehicle attacks. It highlights the need to carry out two audits: one on security (threats and risks) and the other on the use value of a particular place. Cross-referencing these audits makes it possible to inte grate safety requirements as effectively as possible into the layout of a public space and the urban furniture. While these audits may be limited to a particular public space, it is never theless recommended to choose a larger scale – a district or municipality – to achieve a coherent overall vision, or even the implementation of perimeters that allow cases to be dealt with

in an organised way. Once the audits have been carried out, the design phase begins.

The guide reviews four types of public spaces and the recom mended design principles for each: streets, pedestrian areas, squares and parks.

> More information here

Security by Design: SecureCity –10 Rules of Thumb

The Partnership on the Security in Public Spaces of the Urban Agenda for the EU developed guidance material for local and regional authorities on architectural and spatial design (the Security by Design, SbD, process).27 Their 10 Rules of Thumb report (2021) aims to support cities and regions in their im plementation of the SbD approach by providing a checklist for its effective application.

> More information on the report here.

27- Urban Agenda (2019). Security by Design: SecureCity, 10 Rules of Thumb for Security by Design (Action 6).

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2.3 Urban planning and

design:

inclusive and safer public spaces

“It is crucial to take into account the influence of urban development on citizens’ feelings of insecurity. If crime can be prevented primarily through social and educational programmes, an interesting approach is also to act on the physical environment itself. Architectural measures, even if they are not sufficient to curb the phenomenon of crime, can limit both the risk of harm and the fear of being a victim of crime.”

2. Diversity

When designing and developing an urban space, the concentration of varied activities (housing, employment and recreation) should be en couraged in order to attract different kinds of public at different times of day and night. It is also important to create rest areas, where resi dents can stop and chat.

Another important aspect is to encourage the mixing of generations: when older residents and younger families share a neighbourhood, older people feel safer.

3. Penetrability

Penetrability means there should be different access routes available, and the “journey” to get to a given public space should be as pleasant as possible:

By providing secondary functions along the route (reinforcing activity, attractiveness, but also social control).

By having a clear definition and structure of the area being travelled through by providing lighting.

Key principles for designing safe public spaces through environmental measures

It is important to bear the following principles in mind when renovat ing or creating a public space: footfall, diversity, penetrability, clarity and visibility, sufficient lighting and attractiveness.

1. Footfall

The number of users in a given public space appears to be the most important factor contributing to general feelings of security. Ensuring that different groups of users are present in a given public space at dif ferent moments of the day and the evening creates a back-and-forth movement that will reinforce social control.

As a whole, a less penetrable environment will result in less social control, which will have an impact on the safety and feelings of insecu rity among residents and users.

4. Clarity and visibility

The public space should be clearly signed and clear to its users: in a structured public space with clear signage, people feel safer and more secure.

Visibility refers to “seeing and being seen”. This means that a sufficient number of people must be present in a given space to see and hear everything, while there must be a certain degree of contiguity, i.e. resi dents can easily get to know their neighbours and the nearby environment.

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Eric Valerio, Architect at the Belgian Ministry of the Interior, and member of the PACTESUR Expert Advisory Committee

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It is also important to include vegetation, but also to be mindful about its volume and growth to ensure it can be properly maintained and doesn’t obscure the space.

5. Sufficient lighting

A well-lit neighbourhood influences residents’ well-being, comfort and therefore feelings of security. In particular, it helps reduce crime. As a general rule, lighting should only be installed where necessary. The site should not be illuminated blindingly but evenly. People must be able to recognise each other at a minimum distance of four metres.

6. Attractiveness

Other urban design elements can influence feelings of security:

Aesthetics. Citizens appreciate different shapes, sizes and textures. However, universal values apply: for example, nature attracts (greenery, water, warmth, sunshine). On the other hand, wide areas tend to create a feeling of insecurity.

Maintenance and management largely determine the attractive ness of an area. However, the aim is not to create a perfectly main tained neighbourhood either.

Legibility and cleanliness: all the elements that could suggest that the space is deteriorated or abandoned directly affect feelings of (in) security.

Technical sustainability. The design of urban furniture (benches, rubbish bins, etc.) must be sufficiently solid to withstand intensive use and acts of vandalism.

Social sustainability. Social cohesion in a neighbourhood largely determines residents’ feelings of security. Involvement in the neigh bourhood should be encouraged. A sign of recognition, such as offering plants for the garden, is usually enough to encourage people to take care of green spaces or of the cleanliness of their neighbourhood.

> These guidelines are taken from Eric Valerio’s guide for the PACTESUR project. The full version is available here

In practice: the experience of Lisbon, in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

The city of Lisbon began to invest in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) in 2011 with awareness activi ties such as workshops, training for community and other officers of the Lisbon’s municipal police, as well as municipal staff specialised in public space management.

This approach of including CPTED in the community police model seeks to provide local police officers with the following knowledge, tools and skills:

1. Team empowerment with strategies and tools aimed at ensuring that foot patrols actually contribute to improving residents’ feeling of security and well-being.

2. Development and training of technical, relational and insti tutional skills in the community, as well as team reflection about the difficulties and potential in the implementation of this policing model.

3. Enhancement of the quality of the work to be carried out in the territory, providing action lines based on preventive strategies and participatory methodologies for community involvement in security at the local level.

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The CPTED training has improved the identification of problems and their solution and contributed to promoting a more positive and healthier use of public spaces. The coordi nation with other municipal departments such as public space maintenance, urban planning, public lighting, munici pal housing and social services works much better and together more sustainable results are reached.

> More information here.

Case study: exploring human-centred design approaches to public space protection

The Sustainable Design School of Nice (SDS) was tasked with evaluat ing security equipment deployed in the project partner cities of Nice, Turin and Liège, as well as creating innovative security devices and strategies and imagining ways to engage citizens in the process. Since then, this partnership-based course has been exploring the role of design in the protection of public spaces and the need to apply hu man-centred design approaches to security.

The first part of the SDS In/Pact project devised interactive street in terventions, board games and citizen engagement strategies. They questioned the traditional top-down decision-making process in favour of a participatory approach to urban design, shifting perspectives by involving migrants in their user journey.

Occupy is a participatory game inspired by the famous game of pétanque that explores people’s idea of terrorism.

The Citiz Project invited students to focus on Turin’s Piazza Veneto and Liège’s Place Saint Lambert. With no travel possible due to Covid, they conducted their research online by interviewing a wide network of people – local residents, architects, criminologists, designers, police force representatives, psychologists, prevention educators, and urban labs directors.

Students arrived at a strategy of four complementary design solutions organised around simple action verbs: Be informed, Notify, Act and Commit yourself. The solutions presented include an app, a warning bracelet and a shield-like barrier system for public events. The students included in each of their proposed design solutions an evaluation of its impact so that municipal services and police forces would be equipped with an automatic feedback loop integrated in the new devices.

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2.4 The importance of art

“Security professionals, architects, local charities, urban planners and artists must work in a coordinated manner with cities to create secure and peaceful public spaces. Rethinking and reflecting on public spaces’ visual design is vital to increase local residents’ feeling of security.”

Concerning the management of crowd behaviour and movements, students tried to look for solutions that would prevent “tunnel vision” and the “arch phenomenon” that typically creates dangerous bottle necks during large crowd movements. They sought to devise security devices that would be instinctively recognisable, visible, and help fluidify the movement of people towards the exit. The use of sound and smell effects, water projections, visual codes and particularly light as a medium for messaging and directing crowds was at the heart of their early research.

The idea of protective furniture and how the design of street furniture could be used for hiding during a possible attack was also explored in the project.

The PACTESUR Expert Advisory Committee reflected on the role of art in improving public perceptions of the liveliness, safety, image and so ciability of a public space. Indeed, temporary art installations are forms of appropriation of public spaces by citizens.28 Street art is a way of promoting cities' identity and reinforcing social cohesion. It includes a wide range of media in public locations, such as graffiti art, mural painting, flyposting and collage, mosaics and stencilling. Street art opens new avenues for exchange and integration between neighbour hoods and promotes civic participation. Because it is immediate, ac cessible and free, it democratises culture by taking it to the streets.

According to Laetitia Wolff, who led the partnership-based course between the Sustainable Design School of Nice (SDS) and the PACTESUR project, “The notion of security stands at the intersection of multiple dimensions that are all equally meaningful – whether it’s about human needs, ethical values, democratic duties, urban life, environmental standards, or cultural values.”

> This is taken from Laetitia Wolff’s interview for the PACTESUR project. The full version is available here

28- Robazza, G. (2020) Build Art, Build Resilience. Co-creation of Public Art as a Tactic to Improve Community Resilience, The Journal of Public Space, 5(4), 283-300.

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Michael Nicolai, a Liège-based specialist in street art and a member of the PACTESUR Expert Advisory Committee

In practice: the experience of Street Art in Liège, Belgium

In the spring of 2002, the City of Liège commissioned the non-profit association Spray Can Arts to create a mural painting in a derelict area situated in a densely populated neighbourhood, where various dilapidated houses and sheds had been torn down to build a temporary parking lot. Over time, the space had become filled with litter, rubbish and graffiti.

Spray Can Arts created a monumental fresco of a cheerful scene representing a girl reading a book. A few weeks after the mural was completed, some of the charities operating in the neighbourhood reported that local residents and pas sers-by felt safer and that fly-tipping had significantly de creased. The residents had appropriated the artwork, which had become a rallying point for the neighbourhood. This mural was on display for seven years.

> You can read more here

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© Artists 2SHY (2017), Okuda (2014), Felipe Pantone (2015), Spray Can Arts

In practice: involving citizens in a renovation project, Dunkirk, France

The En rue (“in the street”) project was established through a partnership between the Art and Public Space department of the Dunkirk City Council and the Les Alizées specialised crime prevention charity. The project gathered local residents, social workers, architects, sociologists and local associations.

Part of an overall urban renovation project, its objective was to enable local residents to directly contribute to the develop ment of a public space according to their needs.

A series of meetings were organised with local residents to draw maps and identify the existing resources, the different uses of the public space, and what was missing. With this diagnostic in hand, local residents and other members of the collective developed features such as seating, picnic and play areas, a pétanque pitch and other urban furniture. Local businesses contributed by providing staff and machinery.

Several months after the renovation, the public space has been appropriated by local residents and there has been no damage to the newly installed furniture. > More information here.