Dr Anna Barker

I am an Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Criminology. My research explores the governance, regulation and policing of urban public spaces, notably public parks, (gendered) perceptions of (in)security and fear of crime and conviviality in public space.

In 2024, I started a new project with Vikki Houlden, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, exploring the characteristics of both the greenspaces and residents who are(nt) using them, to understand the physical and social barriers faced by different, or intersectional, groups.

Since 2022-23, I led a collaborative project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, with West Yorkshire Combined Authority, West Yorkshire Police, Keep Britain Tidy, Make Space for Girls, Leeds Women’s Aid, the Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre and the University of Leeds which exchanged knowledge, evidence and best practices to improve understanding of women and girls’ safety in parks and co-produced new research-informed parks guidance.

In 2022, I led a collaborative project, funded by the Home Office, on ‘Safer Parks for Women and Girls’ with West Yorkshire Combined Authority. This project used Q methodology to explore the views of women and girls in West Yorkshire towards safety in parks, identifying areas of consensus and divergence in what makes parks feel safe or unsafe.

In 2022, I co-founded with Dr Nicola Dempsey, University of Sheffield, and Carl McClean, Keep Britain Tidy, the Parks & Green Spaces Research Portal. The Portal provides a free and accessible platform to connect researchers, policymakers and green space managers in the UK and internationally. It aims to facilitate knowledge exchange and foster collaboration to inform the best practice management of parks and green spaces for the benefit of communities and the environment.

In 2019, I led a collaborative project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage & Community Funds, Big Lottery and Nesta, on 'The Leeds Parks Fund: Developing a Model for Charitable Giving to Parks' with Leeds City Council Parks and Countryside Service, Leeds Community Foundation and the Leeds Parks and Green Spaces Forum. This project formed part of the national ‘Rethinking Parks’ programme. The findings have shaped the development of the Love Leeds Parks charitable initiative, the marketing strategies of Parks Foundations across the country, and informed government policymakers thinking on new park revenue streams.

In 2015-17, I led a project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in partnership with Leeds City Council Parks and Countryside Service, on people’s experiences and expectations of urban public parks across time. This two-year multi-disciplinary project: ‘The future prospects of urban parks: The life, times and social order of Victorian public parks as places of social mixing’ explored expectations about the social role of urban public parks in the past, the present and the future, and examined how these relate to people’s everyday experiences of the park and its regulation. This was a collaborative research project with Dr David Churchill and Professor Adam Crawford.