WOW Park

WOW Park: Exploring how art and culture can help make public spaces safer, more welcoming spaces for everyone

Illustration of Woodhouse Moor park with text that says Space To Bloom.

Parks serve as vital green spaces for exercise and relaxation. They give us access to nature and provide walking routes away from roads. Yet, Office for National Statistics data shows one in six women feel unsafe in parks during daylight hours (three times higher than men), rising to four out of five women after dark. When women and girls feel unsafe, they are less likely to use, enjoy and benefit from parks, particularly when alone and after dark.

Building on research into what makes parks feel safe by the University of Leeds, the Cultural Institute were keen to explore what role art and cultural interventions – such as creative events, installations and design – could play in tackling this problem. The result was the WoW Park pilot project.

You can read the full report on the WoW Park pilot project online or download the WOW Park Pilot report as a PDF executive summary or full report.

We also invite you to watch this YouTube video about the project and its learnings:

Video transcript: WOW Park Project, 2024.