Make Space For Girls
Redesigning green spaces with teenage girls at the heart of decision making
Chelmsford City Council and Make Space for Girls worked to improve green spaces' safety and inclusivity for young girls and gender-diverse youth.
Since 2022 Chelmsford City Council has led an innovative, community-led project to make green spaces safer and more inclusive for teenage girls and gender-diverse young people from the City. Working in partnership with Make Space for Girls, Social Place, Active Essex and the Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner, the project has redesigned parks using youth voice through the voices, experiences and creativity of young girls, ensuring public spaces genuinely work and are designed for everyone.
As part of a wider commitment to improving women’s safety, Chelmsford City Council has focused on how public green spaces are designed and used. Research shows that traditional teen recreation areas are dominated by boys, leaving many girls feeling excluded. The Make Space for Girls Chelmsford Project directly addressed this imbalance by engaging teenage girls in shaping safer, more inclusive parks.
Over two years, 52 Year 9 students from schools in Chelmsford, Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers took part in workshops to explore how they currently use parks and what would make them feel welcome. Their lived experiences challenged adult assumptions and informed real design changes across Chelmsford.
Active Essex supported the project through Find Your Active Places and Spaces funding, powered by the London Marathon Foundation. This investment enabled deep engagement, co-design and community-led development, aligning strongly with Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) link to ABCD case study? principles.
By recognising teenage girls as the key assets in the process, their insights shaped planning discussions and directly informed the redesign of local parks. The project aligns with Active Essex’s Fit for the Future strategy by prioritising fairness, inclusion and safe, accessible spaces for women and girls.
The Make Space for Girls project is a brilliant example of cross system working for the better of the community. Active Essex worked with Chelmsford City Council, Makes Space for Girls, Social Place and the Essex Police Fire and Crime Commissioner.
The project demonstrated the power of empowerment and advocacy. Teenage girls gained confidence by presenting their ideas to councillors and officers, influencing both design decisions and wider policy updates.
Challenges included changing long-standing perceptions that parks are default male-dominated spaces, limited existing data on inclusive teen design, and behavioural barriers that deter girls from using shared spaces.
The project provides a replicable, evidence-informed model for other local authorities. Learning has been shared across Active Essex, Mid Children Partnership boards, and policing networks, encouraging wider adoption of youth-led, inclusive design approaches.
By embedding ABCD into the process, the project has built long-term confidence, agency and ownership among young women. The ambition is for this approach to influence future park design locally and nationally, supporting a future where public spaces are genuinely shared by all.
Chelmsford’s Women’s Safety Charter and green spaces initiative showcases a steadfast commitment to safer, more inclusive environments for women and gender-diverse individuals. This project embodies a place-based approach, working with partners and young people to effect change. By focusing on lived experiences and ideas, it provides system leaders with the chance to listen and engage.
The positive feedback from participants highlights the importance of involving young people in the planning and design of public spaces. This initiative serves as a model for other cities aiming to enhance safety and inclusivity in their communities.
Key Learnings
It's important to take time to reflect and understand the learnings from work undertaken, to focus on ways to improve in the future.
Youth Voice
Listening to young people encouraged new outcomes for green spaces and they felt heard
Inclusivity
Focusing on park inclusivity sought a broader understanding of their requirements
