Dr. Ellie Cosgrave, Publica’s Director of Inclusive Cities, joined BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour to discuss how public spaces can be redesigned to feel more welcoming and safer for women and girls, following the launch of the Oxford Street pedestrianisation project.

Publica has worked on Oxford Street and in the surrounding area for the past ten years. As part of the pedestrianisation project, the team has been carrying out a series of women’s safety audits to explore how these significant changes to the street could enhance women's feelings of safety.

Ellie discusses what the audits have revealed, how their findings will inform planning policy, and why feeling safe is also about belonging and agency — not just surveillance.

Publica is part of the design team led by architecture, landscape and urban design practice East, to design the pedestrianisation scheme through its transition phases and the permanent scheme with J&L Gibbons, Gehl, Etude, NRP and urbidermis.

Alongside leading the women’s safety audits, Publica is developing the street’s lighting design, led by Satu Streatfield, Specialist Associate for Night Time and Lighting.

Publica and the wider design team were appointed by the Greater London Authority in December 2025, alongside architects Hawkins\Brown who have been developing a long-term design vision for the whole street, from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road.