IN WITH THE RIGHT CROWD crowd movement and space use in Trafalgar Square during the New Year’s Eve celebrations

Abstract

The paper describes a three-year study of the crowd behaviour in Trafalgar Square and central London during the New Year’s Eve celebrations. The objectives of the study were to: identify the characteristics of crowd movement, density and congregation, and how this might be related to spatial layout; evaluate how this might impact on issues of public safety, in consultation with risk management experts; and, develop effective crowd management measures in preparation for the 1999 Millennium New Year’s Eve celebrations. The study is a useful demonstration of how the wellestablished observational techniques of the Space Syntax Scientific Research Programme (SRP) have evolved in recent years to enable researchers to investigate the relationship between crowd behaviour and urban morphology. This evolution was necessary because of the inherent problems associated with studying crowds. The resolution adopted was a more balanced approach to data collection, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative observations, the benefits and limitations of which approach are discussed.