New guidance aims to redesign streets with women’s safety in mind

New government-backed guidance is set to be rolled out to councils across England, aiming to reshape how streets are designed to better protect women and girls.

Led by Active Travel England (ATE), the initiative will provide practical tools and training to help local authorities rethink public spaces through a safety-first lens—specifically addressing long-standing concerns about personal security after dark.

The move comes alongside stark new data. Research from YouGov shows that 88% of women have felt unsafe walking at night, while 71% have altered their routes to avoid poorly lit or isolated areas. For younger women, the issue is even more acute, with one in three saying safety fears discourage them from walking locally altogether.

Designing out fear

At the heart of the guidance is a shift in responsibility—from individuals to infrastructure.

Rather than expecting women to modify their behaviour, the programme encourages councils to design environments that feel safer by default. This includes:

• improved street lighting and visibility

• prioritising busy, overlooked walking routes

• reducing reliance on isolated underpasses

• integrating CCTV and passive surveillance

• creating clearer, more direct pedestrian links

The approach reflects a growing recognition that safety is not just a policing issue, but a design one.

Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said the findings highlight “just how much work there is to be done”, adding that no one should feel unsafe simply travelling from one place to another.

Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips went further, describing violence against women and girls as a “national emergency” and emphasising the need to build safety into everyday environments—not treat it as an afterthought.

From policy to practice

The guidance, due later this year, will be supported by training for local authorities and backed by funding from ATE’s £626 million active travel budget.

Importantly, it draws on real-world interventions already being implemented across the UK:

• Nottinghamshire: CCTV expansion and targeted lighting upgrades

• Milton Keynes: designated safer walking routes and bystander training

• Liverpool: “Halo Points” linked directly to emergency services

• North East: £7.1m investment in safer bus stops and waiting areas

• Leicester and Manchester: replacing underpasses with surface crossings

International examples are also influencing the approach, including flexible night bus stops in Spain and gender-sensitive urban design strategies in the Netherlands.

A long overdue shift

For years, transport planning has been criticised for overlooking the lived experiences of women and girls. Routes designed for efficiency haven’t always been designed for safety.

Chris Boardman, National Active Travel Commissioner, called the findings “appalling”, adding that the industry has “for too long designed streets that don’t work for women and girls.”

That sentiment is echoed across the sector: if nearly nine in ten women feel unsafe walking at night, the issue is not isolated—it’s systemic.

What happens next?

The success of the initiative will ultimately depend on how well it moves from guidance to delivery.

Councils will need to balance competing priorities, funding pressures and existing infrastructure constraints. But the expectation is clear: safety must be embedded, not bolted on.

As North East Mayor Kim McGuinness put it, this requires a “radical change” in how public spaces are designed—backed by meaningful investment.

Because if the ambition is to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, then the design of streets, transport and public spaces will play a central role.

And for once, the message is clear:this isn’t about asking women to adapt—it’s about redesigning the system around them.