##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

Anna Svensdotter
Mirko Guaralda

Abstract

Exposure to perceived danger awakens our environmental awareness and sense of individual responsibility. In our rapidly evolving contemporary urban environments, the design of public space is often constrained and focussed on risk mitigation. Designers often rely on the inclusion of mechanisms to control behaviours (eg walls and fences) or rely on displays of authoritarian surveillance (eg CCTV and extensive warning signage). Measures also known as target–hardening (Saraiva & Pinho, 2011). This can create a reliance on the authoritarian control of urban space, which could result in the disuse of self-regulating mechanisms such as individual responsibility and environmental awareness.
This study investigates perception of danger in public space through a scenario-based investigation focussed on Brisbane, Australia. This study enquires how we sense danger, what provokes our sense of danger and how this affects our environmental awareness. Current exemplary design responses that aim to improve safety in public space are also discussed. The study highlights a need for further research about how authoritatively secured space affects city users, sense of place and community.

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

How to Cite
Svensdotter, A. and Guaralda, M. (2018) “Dangerous Safety or Safely Dangerous. Perception of safety and self-awareness in public space”, The Journal of Public Space, 3(1), pp. 75–92. doi: 10.5204/jps.v3i1.319.
Section
Society
Author Biographies

Anna Svensdotter, Queensland University of Technology

Anna is a PhD candidate at Queensland University of Technology. She has a background within the architectural discipline with a B.Des (Arch) and a M.Arch, also from QUT. Her PhD studies considers the topic of sense of safety within the socio-spatial dynamics of urban public space. Anna is an advocate of inclusive public space for all actors of urban space, and as a result finds the transition zones of urban destinations the object of her research.

Mirko Guaralda, Queensland University of Technology

Dr Mirko Guaralda is Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the Queensland University of Technology; his background includes experience in architectural design, landscape architecture and urban design. Before joining academia full time, Mirko has been working in industry and local government; he has been involved in a wide range of projects at different scales, from small dwellings and gardens, to new estates and urban strategic planning. Since 2001 Mirko has been involved in research projects in Australia as well as in Italy, his home country, and so far has received over $500,000.00 in funding for his work on cities and communities. He is currently research associate with QUT Design Lab, and the Urban Informatics Research group at QUT.

References

Atkins, S. (1991). The influence of street lighting on crime and fear of crime. London: Home Office.

Atlas, R., I.;, & Saville, G. (2013). Implementing CPTED 21st Century Security and CPTED (pp. 875-882): CRC Press.

Atlas, R. I. (2013). Offensible Space 21st Century Security and CPTED (pp. 119-146): CRC Press.

Bachelard, G. (1964). The poetics of space. New York: Orion Press.

Bachelard, G. (1969). The poetics of space. Boston, Mass: Beacon Press.

Barnard-Wills, D., Moore, C., & McKim, J. (2012). Introduction: Spaces of Terror and Risk. Space and Culture, 15(2), 92-97. doi:10.1177/1206331211430012.

Beck, U. (1999). World risk society. Malden, MA; Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Bestrom, E. (2009). Moving Beyond Borders: The Creation of Nomadic Space through Travel. Intersections, 10(1), 199-217.

Brantingham, P., & Brantingham, P. (1975). Residential Burglary and Urban Form. Urban Studies, 12(3), 273-284.

Brantingham, P., & Brantingham, P. (1981). Environmental criminology. Beverly Hills: CA: Sage Publications.

Brantingham, P., & Brantingham, P. (1993). Nodes, paths and edges: Considerations on the complexity of crime and the physical environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13(1), 3-28.

Brantingham, P., & Brantingham, P. (1995). Criminality of place. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 3(3), 5-26.

Brantingham, P., Brantingham, P., & Molumby, T. (1977). Perceptions of Crime in a Dreadful Enclosure. The Ohio Journal of Science, 77(6), 256-261.

Brownlow, A. (2005). A geography of men’s fear. Geoforum, 36(5), 581-592. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.11.005.

Burgess, E. W. (1916). Juvenile Delinquency in a Small City. Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, 6(5), 724-728. doi:10.2307/1133346.

Chitrakar, R. M., Baker, D. C., & Guaralda, M. (2017). Emerging challenges in the management of contemporary public spaces in urban neighbourhoods. ArchNet-IJAR, 11(1), 29-43.

Cooper-Marcus, C. (1995). House as a mirror of self: exploring the deeper meaning of home. Berkeley, Calif: Conari Press.

Cordner, G. W. (1986). Fear of crime and the police: an evaluation of a fear-reduction strategy. Journal of police science and administration, 14(3), 223.

Cox, C. J., & Guaralda, M. (2016). Public space for street-scape theatrics. Guerrilla spatial tactics and methods of urban hacking in Brisbane, Australia. The Journal of Public Space, 1(1), 113-128. doi:10.5204/jps.v1i1.14.

Crowe, T. D., & National Crime Prevention Institute. (1991). Crime prevention through environmental design: applications of architectural design and space management concepts. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Dangschat, J. S. (2009). Space matters - Marginalization and its places. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(3), 835-840. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00924.x.

Day, K. (1994). Conceptualizing Women's Fear of Sexual Assault on Campus: A Review of Causes and Recommendations for Change. Environment and Behavior, 26(6), 742-765.

Despard, E. (2012). Cultivating Security: Plants in the Urban Landscape. Space and Culture, 15(2), 151-163. doi:10.1177/1206331211430019.

Fattah, E. A. (1991). Understanding criminal victimization: an introduction to theoretical victimology. Scarborough, Ont: Prentice-Hall Canada.

Ferri, E. (1896). Criminal sociology. New York: D. Appleton and company.

Fisher, B., & May, D. (2009). College Students' Crime-Related Fears on Campus: Are Fear-Provoking Cues Gendered? Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 25(3), 300-321. doi:10.1177/1043986209335013.

Fisher, B., & Nasar, J. (1992). Fear of Crime in Relation to Three Exterior Site Features: Prospect, Refuge, and Escape. Environment and Behavior, 24(1), 35-65.

Fisher, B., & Nasar, J. (1993). ‘Hot spots’ of fear and crime: A multi-method investigation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13(3), 187-206.

Fisher, B., & Sloan, J. (2003). Unraveling the fear of victimization among college women: Is the "shadow of sexual assault hypothesis" supported?*. Justice Quarterly : JQ, 20(3), 633-659.

Foth, M. (2011). From social butterfly to engaged citizen: urban informatics, social media, ubiquitous computing, and mobile technology to support citizen engagement. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Herzog, T. R., & Chernick, K. K. (2000). TRANQUILITY AND DANGER IN URBAN AND NATURAL SETTINGS. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 20(1), 29-39. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1999.0151.

Herzog, T. R., & Miller, E. J. (1998). The Role of Mystery in Perceived Danger and Environmental Preference. Environment and Behavior, 30(4), 429-449. doi:10.1177/001391659803000401.

Husserl, E. (2012). Ideas : General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology.

Jacobs, J. (Ed.) (1961). The death and life of great American cities. New York: Vintage Books.

Jeffery, R. (1971). Crime prevention through environmental design. Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications.

Kirk, K. L. (1988). Factors affecting perceptions of safety in a campus environment. Environmental Design Research Association, 3, 215-221.

Kitchin, R. M. (1994). Cognitive maps: What are they and why study them? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 14(1), 1-19. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80194-X.

Klodawsky, F., & Lundy, C. (1994). Women’s safety in the university environment. Journal of Architectural and Planning, 11, 128-331.

Kuo, F. E., Bacaicoa, M., & Sullivan, W. C. (1998). Transforming Inner-City Landscapes: Trees, Sense of Safety, and Preference. Environment and Behavior, 30(1), 28-59. doi:10.1177/0013916598301002.

Lane, J., & Meeker, J. (2003). Women's and men's fear of gang crimes: Sexual and nonsexual assault as perceptually contemporaneous offenses*. Justice Quarterly : JQ, 20(2), 337-371.

Ley, D., & Cybriwsky, R. (1974). Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 64(4), 491-505.

Loewen, L. J., Steel, G. D., & Suedfeld, P. (1993). Perceived safety from crime in the urban environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13(4), 323-331. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80254-3.

Marchant, P. (2004). A Demonstration That the Claim That Brighter Lighting Reduces Crime Is Unfounded. British Journal of Criminology, 44(3), 441-447.

May, D. (2001). Adolescent Fear of Crime, Perceptions of Risk, and Defensive Behaviors: An Alternative Explanation of Violent Delinquency. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.

May, D., & Dunaway, R. (2000). Predictors of adolescent fear of crime. Sociaological Spectrum, 20, 149-168.

May, D., Vartanian, L., & Viro, K. (2002). The impact of parental attachment and supervision on fear of crime among adolescent males. Adolescence, 37(267-287).

Merry, S. E. (1981). Urban danger : life in a neighborhood of strangers. Philadelphia: Temple U.P.

Moylan, D. (2005). Kensington High Street: Making it Happen. Paper presented at the Walk21-VI “Everyday Walking Culture”, The 6th International Conference on Walking in the 21st Century, Zurich, Switzerland.

Newman, O. (1972). Defensible space; crime prevention through urban design. New York: Macmillan.

Pain, R. H. (1997). Social Geographies of Women's Fear of Crime. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 22(2), 231-244. doi:10.2307/622311.

Pallasmaa, J. (1994). Identity, Intimacy and Domicile. Notes on the phenomenology of home. Finnish Architectural Review, 1.

Ramsay, M., & Newton, R. (1991). The effect of better street lighting on crime and fear : a review. London: Home Office, Crime Prevention Unit.

Reid, L. W., & Konrad, M. (2004). The gender gap in fear: Assessing the interactive effects of gender and perceived risk on fear of crime. Sociological Spectrum, 24, 399-425.

Robinson, M. B. (1996). The theoretical development of ‘CPTED’: 25 years of responses to C. Ray Jeffery. In W. S. L. Freda Adler (Ed.), The Criminology of Criminal Law. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.

Salmi, S., Gronroos, M., & Keskinen, E. (2004). The role of police visibiliy in fear of crime Finland. Policing, 27(4), 573-591.

Saraiva, M., & Pinho, P. (2011). A comprehensive and accessible approach to crime prevention in the planning and design of public spaces. Urban Design International, 16(3), 213-226. doi:10.1057/udi.2011.7.

Schafer, J. A., Huebner, B. M., & Bynum, T. S. (2006). Fear of crime and criminal victimization: Gender-based contrasts. Journal of Criminal Justice, 34(3), 285-301. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.03.003.

Schweizer, T., & Fasciati, J. (2008). Accident in meeting areas: Comparison of the situation before and after in Burgdorf, Biel, Lyss and Einsiedeln. 9.

Shaw, C. R., & McKay, H. D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas : a study of rates of delinquents in relation to differential characteristics of local communities in American cities. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Skogan, W. G. (1988). Community Organizations and Crime. Crime and Justice, 10, 39-78. doi:10.2307/1147402.

Skogan, W. G. (1990). Disorder and decline : crime and the spiral of decay in American neighborhoods. New York: Free Press.

Smith, W. R., & Torstensson, M. (1997). Gender Differences in Risk Perception and Neutralizing Fear of Crime : Toward Resolving the Paradoxes. British Journal of Criminology, 37(4), 608-634.

Sorensen, S., Hayes, J., & Atlas, R. (2013). Understanding CPTED and Situational Crime Prevention 21st Century Security and CPTED (pp. 59-90): CRC Press.

Stamps, A. E. (2005). Enclosure and Safety in Urbanscapes. Environment and Behavior, 37(1), 102-133. doi:10.1177/0013916504266806.

Van der Wurff, A., van Staalduinen, L., & Stringer, P. (1989). Fear of crime in residential environments: testing a social psychological model. Journal of Social Psychology, 129(2), 141-160.

Wallace, L., & May, D. (2005). The impact of relationship with parents and commitment to schoolon adolescent fear of crime at school. Adolescence, 40, 458-474.

Warr, M. (1990). Dangerous Situations: Social Context and Fear of Victimization. Social Forces, 68(3), 891-907. doi:10.2307/2579359.

Wilson, J. Q., & Kelling, G. L. (1982). Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety. Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety.

Winkel, F. W. (1986). Reducing Fear Of Crime Through Police Visibility: A Field Experiment. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 1(4), 381-398. doi:10.1177/088740348600100402.

Wood, E., Citizens Housing, & Planning Council. (1961). Housing design: a social theory: Citizens' Housing and Planning Council of New York.

Wood, E., & United Nations. Dept. of Economic Social Affairs. (1967). Social Aspects of Housing and Urban Development: UN.

Most read articles by the same author(s)