Man Enjoys View From Park Bench

Fear and Urban Greenspace

Lars Stenberg (Information Designer)

One of the biggest issues that prevents people from using and enjoying public spaces is fear.

Some fears are at first easy to understand - fear of assault or robbery, for instance - but other fears are less obvious. The fear of embarrassment - not being able to find an accessible public toilet, for example - is a common fear. This is enough to put many people off visiting public spaces. Fear of getting lost or stuck is another common fear. Fear of asking strangers for help. Fear of the unknown.

With many people who live in isolation, their main contact with the outside world is through the media. Most of us would accept that sex sells newspapers. The same may be said of fear. Terrorist Threats, Airline Disasters and Mad Axe Murderers all plug in to our basic fears, and they sell newspapers. We need to read about this stuff in order either to reassure ourselves that it’s happening on the other side of the world, or, if it isn’t, to figure out how to avoid it. News comes into our house every day, and a lot of it frightens us.

Of course, although bad things do happen, most of the world isn’t really as scary as the media would have us believe - no surprises there. It’s just that Man Enjoys View From Park Bench isn't headline material. Except here.

Part of the Sensory Trust's work involves addressing the issue of fear as it relates to urban public spaces. We have identified a number of key areas where we can make real differences and remedy some of the causes of fear.

• Fear of the unknown – encouraging and working with managers of urban greenspace to improve the information provided about these spaces.
• Fear of embarrassment – appropriate information provision will ensure that people who want to visit parks and other greenspaces can plan routes to avoid obstacles and remain close to amenities like toilets and tea rooms and transport links.
• Fear of getting stuck - inclusive design practices will remove obstacles and barriers to create an easily accessible space that can be used and enjoyed by everyone.
• Fear of crime – we believe, and studies support the belief, that if more people use urban public spaces then the spaces become self-policing. The Sensory Trust works to make urban public spaces less threatening and more inviting to everyone.

Fear is a part of everyday life. The Sensory Trust don’t expect to remove all fears and, to an extent, we wouldn’t want to. Fear can lead to positive experiences. The feelings of self-belief and self-confidence that most people get from completing their first bungy jump wouldn’t exist if there was no fear in the first place.

We do not advocate the bland, joyless environments that are often created in public spaces as a solution to crime. We don't want to see uninterrupted swathes of paving, devoid of interest, and designed more for the benefit of CCTV cameras than for people. Public spaces should be fun, attractive and accessible.

There are other levels of fear to deal with here. The fear that commissioning committees have of making a mistake, of getting their decision wrong. Choosing a design for urban greenspace that fulfills so many expectations takes some knowledge of the issues, and a lot of courage.

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