Gay village: a coexistence space for birds and the LGBTQ+ community
This project reimagines Manchester’s Gay Village as a safer and more inclusive urban space by integrating Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles with ecological landscape strategies. The design addresses two critical urban challenges: the vulnerability of LGBTQ+ individuals—particularly women and transgender people—during nighttime hours, and the ecological disconnect between human activity and non-human urban species like birds. By implementing spatial strategies such as enhanced surveillance, intuitive zoning, and inclusive street programming, the intervention aims to reduce hate crime and promote civic participation. Simultaneously, bird-friendly infrastructure—like layered habitats, native vegetation, and music-sensitive zones—transforms the village into a multispecies commons. This design not only restores the sense of identity and belonging for marginalized human users but also extends empathy and spatial rights to non-human life forms. Through this hybrid ecological-social approach, the Gay Village becomes a prototype for equitable, multispecies urban futures.
