The UK National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) has published new guidance documents for protecting venues and public spaces from terrorist attack.
The documents take a resilience-by-design approach describing important considerations that should be built into structures and layouts.
It is important that security is considered in relation to all venues and public spaces and an appropriate, proportionate approach is taken to mitigate security risks says NPSA. The positioning of buildings relative to their environments and importantly the layout and design of the space in and around them, can make these places less vulnerable to terrorist attack. Should an attack take place, such considerations will better protect people from the impact. Factoring appropriate and proportionate security measures into the design of buildings and spaces also brings other benefits, for example general environmental improvements and crime prevention.
The surroundings also needs to be considered: any venue and public space may also be vulnerable to the impact of an indirect attack – because of proximity to neighbouring sites, areas, businesses, or other organizations that may be targeted.
The guidance consists of three documents:
