Students from across the country are invited to take part in the 'Public Spaces, Safer Places' initiative which asks them to think about security features and safety issues when designing a fictional public space.
The competition is a response to one of the recommendations Home Office Security Minister Lord West made last year in his review of how best to protect crowded places from terrorism.
In particular, the need to do more to raise awareness of counter terrorism measures among professional bodies, such as architects and designers.
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The competition has been developed in collaboration with the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the police National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO).
Lord West said: "This competition is a great opportunity for students of architecture and design to make a significant contribution to protecting our country's crowded places from terrorist attacks. The designing-in of counter terrorism protective security measures to new buildings at the earliest concept design stage will be crucial to the future of safer crowded places.
"We are pleased to be working closely with professional bodies, such as the RSA and RIBA who are encouraging an innovative and creative approach to designing-in counter terrorism measures."
The competition will be open to around 30,000 UK students of architecture and design from the start of the 2008-09 academic year and forms part of the RSA's Design Directions student award scheme for 2008/09. There is a £2,000 prize fund for the "Public Spaces, Safer Places" competition.
(JM)
