The Women’s Safety Walks were devised to connect with women and girls across London Borough of Tower Hamlets and talk about safety in the borough. The project is a collaboration between the Plan Making Team and the Community Safety Team.

We devised these walks in order to give women and girls the opportunity to talk to us about how they perceive the borough. It enabled us to hear about how women and girls use streets and public spaces, the ways that they navigate and the borough and the kinds of blocks and barriers they face.

These conversations enabled us to learn about the places women actively use and enjoy, the areas that felt unsafe and the reasons those places felt challenging. Through listening to their experiences, I was able to develop design principles to ensure the experience of women and girls is designed-in to future development.

The digital walks were designed to be inclusive, and women could join anonymously if they wished to. They were run over 10 days and there were three sessions per day.

What we learned from these walks will shape gender inclusive design guidance for the borough and help the community safety team to understand how women and girls feel.