First meeting in Safe Spaces Task Force

Categories: New initiatives
Udgivet: 12 Jun - 2020

Forming the Nordic DNA for safe urban spaces

How can Nordic cities create safe, inspiring and attractive spaces, where urban safety planning and security go hand in hand with open and democratic public spaces?

City planning has gained increasing importance on the agenda in recent years, as cities have been reinforcing security measures around public spaces and buildings to protect them from potential extremist attacks. Building barricades and installing more surveillance may seem as an effective and immediate way to increase security but such security measures have also shown to carry consequences. Security measures that act as visible barricades can at the same time serve as constant reminders of threats and deter the public from spending time in certain areas. A survey of the Oslo Fashion District showed that the current terrorism securing of Norway’s capital has resulted in up to 13 per cent declining annual sales in stores, difficult conditions for delivery and transport conditions for the elderly, increased prostitution and crime.

But why are the current solutions in central Oslo – and other cities – not working optimally? And what can cities do to ensure that new measures increase both urban security and public safety?

Six cities – Copenhagen, Aalborg, Malmö, Oslo, Stavanger and Kristiansand – from across the Nordic region joined forces with urban design and city planning experts from SLA Architects in the first meeting of the Safe Spaces Task Force in Nordic Safe Cities. Here we took the first steps towards creating solutions that not only enhance urban security and public safety but also increase the quality of life in the cities.

Integrated security measures create safe and inclusive spaces

Security and safety are not the same and do not necessarily correlate. In fact, increasing security through visible measures that break up the cityscape has shown to decrease quality of life and public safety in some cases.

https://vimeo.com/428426710/427367ff76

Watch Louise Fiil-Hansen explain the
foundations for Safe Urban Spaces here.

“The level of security in a neighbourhood is based on statistics and actual risk. Safety, on the other hand, is about people and subjective perceptions. Although concrete bollards have in many places been replaced with more aesthetically pleasing flower beds, we all know why they are in the cityscape – to prevent potential extremist attacks.”

Louise Fiil Hansen, Partner, SLA

Hansen further explains that it is not only the risk of extremist attacks that can change cities but also the fear of them, and despite the risks of these attacks being quite small in most Nordic cities, visible reminders of the looming threat still affect our sense of safety.

https://vimeo.com/430301626/e97ad51d52

Watch Stine Ilum explain the public feelings of safety

“Will the security measure we install increase the security level? And create a feeling of safety? Can we combine security and safety? If not, is the risk of terror big enough to risk potentially ruin the feeling of safety in the city?”


Stine Ilum, Anthropologist at SLA, specialised in counter terrorism, asks the cities to consider. 

Creating safe and secure cities is a task filled with dilemmas and requires interdisciplinary work to ensure the proper balance of social, physical, organisational, and technical interventions. A technical intervention such as lighting, for example, can influence when a space is used, by whom and how depending on the amount, type and colour of light.

https://vimeo.com/428433294/ddc22a77fd

Watch Monica Rodriguez explain the
effects of light on people and spaces here.

“Safety is a subjective matter and light – especially at night –  it is essential to how an area is perceived and used by people.”


Light specialist and architect at SLA, Monica Galiana Rodriguez. 

Lighting amongst other urban design choices can therefore both encourage and discourage certain people or certain activities, but when done the right way, urban design and city planning can combine security and safety – and add value to the quality of life in the city.

Integrated security in landscapes such as strategically placed water elements, trees, benches, light design, and interactive art pieces can attract diverse groups to actively use the area and generate distance that can prevent attacks without creating barriers – the opposite of walls. As such, integrated measures that are site and issue specific can enhance security, while also increasing feelings of safety and quality of life in the city.

Start with the people

To achieve fully integrated measures cities must have in-depth knowledge of the specific site, neighbourhood, or area in question and of the particular issue.

https://vimeo.com/428430402/5f87b7f152

Watch Cecilie Jessen explain how
safety is perceived in urban spaces here.

“What constitutes threatening behaviour or atmosphere is very subjective. Cities must be very specific about the place and the people in the space – by asking who is feeling unsafe, when, where and why? And who is engaging or perceived as engaging in threatening behaviour?”


Anthropologist, SLA Architects, Cecilie Jessen. 

Jessen elaborates that feelings of unsafety are often dependent on social context and safety cannot be achieved by physical interventions alone. Both social and demographic factors are important to understanding the dynamics of criminal activity and other threatening behaviours. Design solutions should therefore be combined with social initiatives.

6 Nordic cities in front

Moving forward, the Nordic cities engaged in the Task Force will be working to develop initiatives taking an integrated security approach that combines physical and social interventions.

Stavanger is taking action to understand the usage of the central park and is additionally exploring the use of lighting to promote security, art installations to create new experiences, using water elements, playgrounds, surrounding buildings, and other features to attract more diverse and active users of the central park.

The city of Aalborg wants to develop a more multifunctional space that invites for activities and involves the citizens. As a first step, the city takes action to further expand their knowledge of the security issues and safety perceptions in certain park spaces. Through such initiative as 24-hour anthropological studies, the city will observe the area at different times and days.

The capital cities of Copenhagen and Oslo, where terror measurements have made people feel less safe and interested in using certain spaces, they are developing new ideas for security measures that increase the feeling of safety and create open, inclusive, functional and attractive spaces.

The city of Kristiansand plans to double the population in a specific area over the next decade and is working to develop initiatives to diversify the demographic composition and to create safe and inclusive social housing. Kristiansand will work on giving the city more identity and exploring ways to attract new groups and people to the area.

Overall, to create secure and safe cities, the Safe Spaces Task Force takes a natural security approach focusing on fully integrating security measures into the design, architecture and urban spaces. The argument here is that integrated security measures can be camouflaged into the urban environment and be designed as gentle and respectful interventions that not only reduce risks, but also highlight the city’s traits and values and provide practical solutions for the economy, traffic conditions, and the climate.

Background: Nordic Safe Cities supporting local urban development

Nordic Safe Cities launched the new collaboration titled ‘Safe Spaces Task Force’ with the Nordic architecture and urban consultancy firm SLA to engage member cities to rethink how they make their urban spaces safe, secure and liveable. The task force will base and develop its work around local upcoming or existing projects selected in the member cities and help create more safety and liveability in the cities. The Task Force will meet 3 times in 2020.

If you are a member of Nordic Safe Cities and are interested in joining the Safe Spaces Task Force, please contact Deputy Director, Lotte Fast Carlsen: lotte@nordicsafecities.org

If you are interested in becoming a member of Nordic Safe Cities, read more here.