RawnuOne way forward here maybe could be to truly have social hubs (as Kira called them) where player-player interaction can take place (talking about space legs, not dogfights).
Shinrarta could at least have been a spot for players to meet up at (eventually), as it's one of the few spots players gather up around (without being part of a squadron or event or whatever), but instead because PvP is at all times possible in the game it's just a ganker-infested black hole that only (or mostly) the thrill seekers bother going to in Open. Outside of that location and/or general vicinity, you can be in Open but rarely meet players, or just pass each other by without much interaction, unless you're in one of the Thargoid war systems (which I could rant on a whole other level about how it was a badly managed and executed attempt at storytelling).
It of course also wouldn't solve for the slight matter of there being nothing particularly meaningful to do on stations on foot, or it not feeling like an 'alive' area.
