New research project launched on crowd science
The Business Transformations Research Centre at Manchester Metropolitan University is providing support for a new research project all about ‘crowd science’. But what is it? Crowd science is about understanding how and why crowds move the way they do. We see crowds of people in everyday situations, such as in train stations, city centres, office buildings, supermarkets, music festivals, sports stadiums, theme parks, and tourist hotspots. However, sadly crowd disasters also regularly happen across the globe, such as in Seoul (South Korea) on Halloween Night, Kanjuruhan Stadium (Indonesia), and the 02 Academy Concert (Leeds), all of which took place in 2022. But why does this happen? Despite the presence of crowds being so prolific, this area of study is still rather embryonic.
A new research project has been launched to find out more about the movement of crowds. Following a thorough and systematic review of crowd science literature, which highlighted many gaps in the knowledge base, the project is now gathering primary data through observation, interviews, surveys and photos at a number of high-profile sports events across the UK, such as the Manchester Marathon and The University of Bolton Stadium.
The project is headed up by Aimee-Louise Baker, Researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University, and it is being conducted in collaboration with:
- Professor David Bamford, Manchester Metropolitan University
- Dr Kate McLaughlin, University College Dublin; and
- Marcel Altenburg, Manchester Metropolitan University.
The project is building on existing technical research in this area and will contribute scientific knowledge to aid the standardisation of models and procedures, and training tools for use by practitioners, academics and policy makers alike. The researchers argue that the domain of crowd science should be understood as an important topic of conversation, warranting more empirical research to help make crowd environments safer, more comfortable and enjoyable. It is hoped this new project can move towards addressing this.
