How may we protect people and buildings in the city? Many specialists are focusing on solutions for this question on a daily basis – from law enforcement to local residents groups. And what is the role of design, and how can we nudge rather than counteract?
We developed a strategic vision for the municipality of The Hague that focuses on the International Zone where we took on the challenge of designing safe and inviting environments in the city. We set it as our mission to protect people and buildings without creating physical fences and without adding visual urban clutter to the cityscape.
For this exploratory research, we have engaged with multiple stakeholders, scanned the industry response, mapped distinct city locations and activities, and framed an approach that intervenes in the public realm. The questions that lead to our proposal were – how might we use both physical and digital methods to enhance safety? How might we enable safety measures to be used invisibly anywhere, and at appropriate times?
The synthesis of our observations shaped our ambition to design safe environments that invite, rather than restrict, users in the city, with the goal to create environments that encourage social interactions. We believe user-attractive spaces deliver safety and security.
Our human-centric proposal is outlined in a vision document, where we proposed interventions that are interactive, embedded within the built environment and respond to real time data on people’s flow and movement in the city. They project positivity and encourage playful engagement with our surroundings and at the same time are flexible in the way they enhance safety, and are adaptable to ever-changing situations.
