Crowd Dynamics launch e-learning platform. 

e-Workshop LIVE on 1st May 2010

See www.CrowdDynamics.org for further information

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November 2009 - When Shoppers Attack -- How to Survive a Black Friday Stampede

Click here for the article

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November 2009 - Emergency Services Lecture 2009

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October 2009 - Secure London Lecture 2009

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August 2009 - MENSA Magazine

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July 2009 - Policing Today - Crowd Dynamics

Policing Today is the official journal of ACPO (the Association of Chief Police Officers) and is published five times per year. The journal includes in-depth articles, news, and in-depth features covering policy, working methods, legal and parliamentary changes, and the latest information technology.

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Guardian : June 27th 2009. Critical mass

When does a packed but happy crowd become a dangerous, even lethal one? Emma Brockes investigates a growing trend - the 'crowd craze'. 

Click here to read the article

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June 2009 - iSquared - Institute of Mathematics - Cover Story

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April 2009 - BBC Focus Magazine

CROWDS : The trouble with crowds - The scientists working to prevent another Hillsborough. 4 page article on crowds and crowd behaviour in the BBC science magazine. Click here for more information

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Understanding Crowd Dynamics

By Dr. G. Keith Still - The Main Event (published Nov 2005 - first edition of the NOEA news monthly)

“The accident was caused by inappropriate crowd behaviour” is an all too common an excuse for problems that result in personal injury. When accidents occur one of the first thing to blame is the crowd behaviour - obviously. But what site factors affect the crowd’s behaviour?

Imagine the mood of the crowd kept waiting outside a venue that fails to open on time or the frustration of long, unmanaged queues for concessions and toilets. Badly managed car parking (one of my personal boiling points) and poor signage can badly affect the mood (and subsequent behaviour) of the crowd. How much can we influence the appropriate behaviour of crowds in our event management and safety plans?

Over the last five years we have run a series of workshops around the world on “understanding crowd dynamics” and reviewed hundreds of events from the local village firework display to the three million pilgrims attending the “stoning the devil” ceremony during Haj (the annual pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia). There are many common features to crowd safety that are worth highlighting as these can significantly improve safety and have a direct affect on both profits and appropriate crowd behaviour.

There are two main elements to the problems of crowd dynamics. The physical elements (we call these the hard issues) and the behavioural elements (these are called the soft issues). Hard issues relate to physical layout, location of facilities, provision for adequate means of ingress/egress, planning for emergency responses and process and procedures. Soft issues relate to communication, behaviour and management effects on the crowd. Post mortem analysis of crowd disasters show that both hard and soft issues contribute to the major crowd disasters. A review of these problems can help improve crowd safety in general. Sadly there is little in the literature that helps event organisers understand the nature of the crowd and how both hard and soft issues need to be considered in the overall safety planning of events both large and small.

One of the main failings of the many sites we’ve reviewed is information and communication systems. Poor signage not only confuses and frustrates people but, in the event of an emergency, can cause frustration that leads to crowd violence.

There are four main behavioural groups:

Group I	Violent types who, for their own gratification, find violence attractive
Group II	Imitators of Group I but not instigators of violence
Group III	Reactionaries – who react violently in response to a situation (ie: not getting in to the ground)
Group IV	The vast majority of spectators who abhor violence

Frustration can give rise to Group III behaviour and therefore how frustration manifests itself and how it may be controlled is an important element in understanding crowd dynamics and managing crowds safely. When levels of frustration increase beyond reasonable levels it can result in crowd violence.

It is important to distinguish between what is and what is not within your power to change. We can examine the different types of reaction to a frustrating event. For examples: excessive queueing, bad weather, delays on public transport. Frustration often arises out of trying to change an uncontrollable circumstance. Careful site design, assessing queueing times, ingress and egress rates and facilities provision all help reduce frustration. Many of these elements are under our control.

When dealing with an uncontrollable circumstance (such as the weather), you do control one thing: how you communicate with the crowd.

“We are sorry but there is no further information at this time” is an announcement that keeps the management in contact with the crowd. No announcement can increase frustration so consider talking to the crowd, keeping people informed of the situation even if there is no change in the circumstances.

When dealing with crowds you should consider the hierarchy of human needs (first proposed by Mastlow in his book “Motivation and Personality” 1970). These, in order of importance, are as follows:

1. Food, drink, temperature regulation, toilet facilities, rest, oxygen.

2. Safety, protection, security.

3. Affection, involvement, trust.

4. Being part of the group, esteem and self esteem.

5. Respect, recognition, self respect

6. Knowledge, order, understanding

7. Self actualisation, Max personal development

If you use the above as the crowd’s fundamental requirements you can construct a checklist. How many of the venues are designed around these basic human needs? Where signage towards the toilets is ambiguous are we creating unnecessary frustrations? Many issues of communication can be solved using simple techniques – such as putting a distance on the signage (Toilets 200m this way ->). Frustrations shapes crowd behaviour and event organisers should try to reduce crowd frustration at every possible opportunity.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Haj Missions, Ministry Team Up for Safety

Habib Shaikh, Arab News - Saturday, 27, November, 2004 (14, Shawwal, 1425). Click here for the link

JEDDAH, 27 November 2004 — The foreign Haj missions to the Kingdom have been urged to support the action plan that has been formulated by the Ministry of Haj after long deliberations, research and studies for the safety of the more than two million pilgrims who are expected to come for Haj this year.

“We appeal to the foreign Haj missions in Saudi Arabia to enhance and strengthen their cooperation for greater safety and comfort of the Hajis. And we are confident of a positive response from them,” said Dr. Sahl A. Al-Sabban, assistant deputy minister of Haj for projects and holy sites affairs. “We in Saudi Arabia consider the foreign Haj missions as major players in Haj plans and services. They represent the Hajis in many ways and are the best contact and source to convey the message,” he told Arab News on Thursday. Al-Sabban said the action plan is the product of an integrated and scientific approach by the Ministry of Haj, General Security, Civil Defense, Municipality of Makkah, Haj Research Center, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs, Red Crescent, and the General Secretariat for Development of Makkah and Madinah and Holy Sites, as well as the Tawafa establishments in Makkah. “The plan is a result of many years of experience in this area,” said Dr. G. Keith Still of the UK-based Crowd Dynamics. Still, who has been conducting workshops, lectures and seminars for the last three years, said his company has been doing consultancy work for the Ministry of Haj. The company prepared several reports and has had some input in the design of the new Jamarat Bridge. He also said the plan was safety tested using well-established and reliable scientific methods and practices. Al-Sabban said the foreign Haj missions are a strong link between the Ministry of Haj, various Haj organizations, institutions and agencies and Hajis from their respective countries and are well placed to disseminate messages and guidelines regarding stoning at the Jamarat. “These missions can play a major role,” Al-Sabban said. “They maintain good contacts with the Ministry of Haj, attend workshops and seminars every year, and are well aware of the plans. Travel agents and group leaders can also play a significant role in the matter.” He said a favourable response would be forthcoming from these missions bearing their duties and responsibilities to do more for the safety and security of the pilgrims. Of late, many countries have begun to educate, train and orient the Hajis coming from their countries. One such country is India, from where the second largest number of pilgrims come for Haj. India started a program to train Hajis in 1999, stressing safety, especially at the Jamarat area. The embassy and the consulate general are the key players in the program. Audio-video orientation programs are conducted for the pilgrims in various states. The pilgrims are taught how to move, when to move, what precautions to take, and the like.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Making the Jamarat Bridge Safer for Pilgrims

Arab News Staff Writer Sunday, 26, September, 2004 (11, Sha`ban, 1425). Click here for the link

JEDDAH, 26 September 2004 — All organizations involved in the Haj rituals at Jamrat Bridge will be reorganized and restructured for better and safer crowd management, according to Haj Minister Iyad Madani. Inaugurating a six-day workshop on crowd management here yesterday, Madani explained that the process will comprise scheduling of stone-throwing, and enhancement of operations in order to get better performance and help enhance pilgrims’ safety. The workshop, conducted by Dr. G. Keith Still of the UK-based Crowd Dynamics, is attended by senior officials from Public Security, Civil Defense, Makkah Municipality, Haj Research Center, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs, Red Crescent, and General Secretariat for Development of Makkah and Madinah and Holy Sites. The minister said the changes planned for the forthcoming Haj were in keeping with the ongoing work on the new bridge where the shape of the basement has been changed from round to oval thereby increasing the capacity by 25 percent. He said the goal of the workshop was to increase cooperation and contribute to coordination between different authorities, and strengthen their working as a team. He said the government was always ready and keen to use the best expertise in crowd management. Dr. Sahl Al-Sabban, assistant deputy minister of Haj for projects and holy sites affairs, said different government authorities dealing with Jamarat have their own planning for crowd management. “The workshop is focusing on team, joint approach and effort. It is good to have a common strategy, administration, management and operations,” he added. Keith told Arab News that with the change in the bridge’s shape there will be a change in capacity necessitating a change in management as well, and “it is important to plan, anticipate and prepare.” He said there will be three more workshops, which would conclude well before Haj. The present one is focusing on the overall management of change. The other three will be devoted to scheduling, operations and an advanced class termed Master Class. Keith, who has been conducting workshops, lectures and seminars for the last three years, said his company has been doing consultancy work for the Ministry of Haj. It has prepared several reports for it, and has had some input in the design of the new Jamarat Bridge. “Crowd dynamics is a new science,” he said. It deals with how and where crowds are formed, how they move, how and where they reach critical mass, what is crush potential, what are the safety limits, design effects and so on. “Earlier, we just looked at action and reaction. Now we study anatomy of disaster. We can learn a lot from regular studies of crowd disasters worldwide,” he said. There used to be just crowd control where mainly force was used to make the crowd do what it did not want to do. Crowd management is designed to change their behaviour through established and proven management procedures. He said big, open spaces are not easier to manage than confined, underground areas, which are difficult to handle. Pillars also create problems. It is necessary to test different models and carry out simulations. Analyzing the anatomy of disasters, one learns that unfamiliar environment poses higher risks. People tend to return the way they had gone. To change the environment it is necessary to change the perception as well. “One way of doing that is through signboards. Information changes behaviour,” he said, and added, “All of the best ideas and principles have been observed and used in the design of the new bridge. It is designed with equilibrium and balance.” There should be both good design as well as good management, and the workshops, hopefully will contribute to that, he said.

Format of the Crowd Dynamics - Ministry of Haj workshops - 2004 (for 2005 Haj)

Workshop  1	Introducing the Science of Crowd Dynamics.	Scheduling, People and Traffic, Disaster Recovery, Anatomy of a Disaster, Risk Analysis/Maps
Workshop  2	Defining the applications to Mina/Jamarat.	Networks, Human Factors, Signage, Risk Management, Bridge Modifications
Workshop  3	Applying the Science of Crowd Dynamics.	Ground Floor, Scheduling, Messaging and Monitoring, Eastern Entrance, Mozdelefah Walkway, Al-Kubra
Workshop  4	Putting it all together	Master Planning Class – Scheduling and Operations
Workshop  5	Developing a Master Scheduling and Routing System	Define the approach and return paths for lapidation
Workshop  6	MiS system requirements	Alerts on the Mozdelefah Walkway

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________PC Magazine -- 4/1/1996

Programming Crowd Behaviour: Point and Run--Sheryl Canter--Math whiz studies flocks of birds and Wembley Stadium for programming.

The ability to do repetitive tasks at lightning speeds makes computers seem omnipotent--leave them crunching away at a problem at the end of the day and they'll come up with a solution. Research scientists, however, have discovered some problems that are simply impossible to solve with traditional techniques, no matter how big or fast a computer may be. Such a problem occurs when the number of elements to analyze is very large, because a program must consider every possible situation. Modelling the movements of crowds at a stadium, for example, poses two potential difficulties: You must provide to the computer knowledge of every contingency and, if the number of possibilities is large, you may have to wait literally forever for the solution to be computed. Scottish mathematician G. Keith Still, who studies crowd dynamics, has invented some powerful and efficient programming techniques to deal with this problem. Still's approach, which he calls "entity-oriented programming," couples a virtual-reality landscape based on dynamic fractal calculations with self-aware entities that can react to the landscape as well as to one another. He then encodes the rules that govern how systems operate, rather than the behaviour of each individual element. Still has developed a library of routines called Myriad to implement this technique. "We program in simple rules and let the system replicate, evolve, and grow. What happens is awesome when you first see it-you get emergent behaviour, something for nothing," says Still. With entity-oriented programming, the problem shifts from determining all possibilities to determining the rules that give rise to complex behaviour. "For example, a simple set of rules can model a flock of birds," explains Still. "To create birds, we need three rules: Match speeds with the nearest neighbour, maintain a minimum distance from the nearest neighbour, and try very hard to get to the centre of the flock. When we do this, the birds display all the characteristics of a flock of living birds--swooping, dividing around solid objects, and reforming again--a whole range of complex behaviour from a few simple rules." Still's company, Crowd Dynamics Limited, applies these techniques to crowd management, entrance and exit design for buildings, and barrier design for minimizing bottlenecks for London's Wembley Stadium and other clients. The rules governing the behaviour of a crowd trying to get through an exit are even simpler than for a flock of birds. Each person wants to get through the door in the shortest time, following the shortest route. That's programmed with two simple rules: point and run. Legion can be applied to more than just crowd control. Still also has had success using it to model financial markets, and he is working on encryption and compression applications. In fact, the technique can be applied to any complex interactive system such as biological cells, currency markets, or ecosystems.

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PC Magazine -- May 28, 1996

Programming Crowd Control--Sheryl Canter--Math whiz studies crowd dynamics at Wembley Stadium.

The ability to do repetitive tasks at lightning speeds makes computers seem omnipotent: leave them crunching away at a problem at the end of the day and they'll come up with a solution overnight. Research scientists, however, have discovered some problems that are simply impossible to solve with traditional techniques, no matter how big or fast the computer. Such a problem occurs when the number of elements to analyze is very large, because a program must consider every possible situation. Modelling the movements of crowds at a stadium, for example, poses two difficulties: You must provide to the computer knowledge of every contingency, and if the number of possibilities is large, you may have to wait literally forever for the solution. G. Keith Still, a Scottish mathematician who studies crowd dynamics, has invented some powerful programming techniques to deal with this problem. Still's approach, which he calls "entity-oriented programming," couples a virtual-reality landscape based on dynamic fractal calculations with self-aware entities that can react to the landscape and to one another. He then encodes the rules that govern how systems operate, rather than the behaviour of each individual element. Still has developed a library of routines, called Myriad, to implement this technique. "We program in simple rules and let the system replicate, evolve, and grow. What happens is awesome when you first see it--you get emergent behaviour," says Still. With entity-oriented programming, the problem shifts from determining all possibilities to determining the rules that give rise to complex behaviour. "For example, a simple set of rules can model a flock of birds," explains Still. "To create birds, we need three rules: match speeds with the nearest neighbour, maintain a minimum distance from the nearest neighbour, and try very hard to get to the centre of the flock. When we do this, the birds behave like a flock of live birds--swooping, dividing around solid objects, reforming again--a whole range of complex behaviour from a few simple rules." Still's own company, Crowd Dynamics Limited applies these techniques to crowd management, entrance and exit design for buildings, and barrier design for minimizing bottlenecks for London's Wembley Stadium and other clients. Still has also had success using his algorithms to model financial markets, and he's working on encryption and compression applications. In fact, the technique can be applied to any complex interactive system, such as biological cells, currency markets or ecosystems.