Säkraplatser Prize 2025

It is with great pleasure that we present this year’s recipients of the Safe Places Award in memory of Ida Johansson — an award that recognizes students whose degree projects make a significant contribution to increased safety and security in our public environments. This year’s award recipients are:

  1. Lisa Hillerbrand Martin, “Mapping urban safety and security: an intersectional approach in Umeå, Sweden”

  2. Frida Jönsson & Tove Jönsson, ”Trygghet och planering: Hur gated communities motiveras i Staffanstorps kommun”

  3. Anna Ringström & Sarah Andersson, ””Knark på toaletterna, graffiti, folk pinkade i blomkrukorna.” En kvalitativ studie om stök på folkbibliotek, vart gränserna dras och hur normer etableras”

Their studies stand out for their creative and well-founded approaches to crime prevention and the development of safe urban environments. Through their work, they make a strong contribution to our shared goal of creating safer and more inclusive public spaces.

We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to the award recipients and a sincere thank you to all students who submitted their work. We also wish to thank the jury for their dedication and thorough efforts in selecting the winners from among the 14 submissions. Your expertise and careful assessments have been crucial to the process, and we greatly appreciate your contribution.

The recording of the award ceremony is available HERE. 

Motivations from the jury

1:st prize – Lisa Hillerbrand Martin
Mapping urban safety and security: an intersectional approach in Umeå, Sweden

The jury’s motivation: “Through a strong analytical approach, the study demonstrates how urban design, social factors, and context interact in shaping experiences of safety, particularly for vulnerable groups, using multiple methods and an intersectional perspective. The study has high societal relevance as it highlights how planning and design can either reinforce or counteract feelings of insecurity in everyday environments. The author also clearly links the findings to Agenda 2030, Goal 11, on inclusive and safe cities.”

2:nd prize – Frida Jönsson & Tove Jönsson
Trygghet och planering: Hur gated communities motiveras i Staffanstorps kommun

The jury’s motivation:
“The authors highlight a current phenomenon in planning, namely the development of so called gated communities, as an example of a tool for creating safety. They address the topic in a professional manner and with an ambitious study design. The study highlights both an alternative perspective within spatial planning and the distinction between perceived insecurity and actual safety. The discussion emphasises how this planning initiative serves functions beyond increasing safety and thereby contributes to an understanding of how social sustainability is perceived and how boundary making is practised in municipal planning.”

3:e pris – Anna Ringström & Sarah Andersson
”Knark på toaletterna, graffiti, folk pinkade i blomkrukorna.” En kvalitativ studie om stök på folkbibliotek, vart gränserna dras och hur normer etableras

The jury’s motivation:
“The authors address a timely topic and demonstrate that physical design, as well as the management of disorder and conflicting interests, are central issues for library and information science, the library as a public space, and its users and staff. The thesis is well structured and characterised by a scientific approach with clear theoretical and methodological awareness. The results highlight how disorder affects libraries as public spaces and how physical design can both reduce risks and at the same time limit library activities.”