Browsing by Author "Pihlajakangas, Laura"

Crime in cities and the safety of urban environment has created broad debate and interest. Fear of crime and perceptions of safety can be affected by many socio-demographic, socio-psychological and environmental factors, such as age, sex, media stories or different characteristics of the built environment. Fear of crime and insecurity in urban environments can restrict the use of public spaces and influence the quality of life. Crime and fear of crime are distributed unevenly in the environment and previous research has identified some concentrations of fear and crime. Crime and fear of crime are related to the urban environment in many ways. There has been a growing interest towards different kinds of strategies and security plans, which might improve the safety of cities. Crime Prevention through Environmental design (CPTED) is one example of planning methods aimed at preventing crime and fear of crime. CPTED model seeks to provide safer urban environments. CPTED approach has been influenced especially by the works of Jane Jacobs and Oscar Newman, who drew attention to the relationship between crime and urban planning. The main principles of CPTED are territoriality, surveillance, maintenance/image, access control, activity support and target hardening. CPTED strategies have been a part of urban planning since the 1970s and CPTED principles have been widely used in North America, England and Australia. In recent years there has also been wider interest in Europe towards the relationship between crime prevention and planning. In Finland CPTED model has been used only in a couple of places so far. This research has focused on the role of the built environment from the factors that are related to the safety of neighbourhoods. The aim of this study was to examine how does the 'feared places' in the neighbourhood of Leppävaara in Espoo look like from the CPTED perspective. The 'feared places' were identified by the use of a previous study called 'safety walks in Leppävaara' and supported by data from the police. The research data was collected through observations. A 'CPTED checklist' was used as an evaluation form which was based on previous CPTED safety audit checklists. CPTED observations revealed that there are many CPTED elements present in the 'feared places' of Leppävaara. However, the quantity and quality of these elements varied between the places. CPTED analysis clearly showed how the different elements of CPTED are connected to each other and partly overlap. The biggest problems concerning territoriality where related to poor signage and the separation of certain functions. The possibilities of surveillance seemed to be closely related to the activities and land uses in the areas. The overall level of maintenance and image was good, and the biggest problems were general litter and graffiti. The means of access control and target hardening were mostly natural/informal and moderate. The built environment is by no means the only and most important factor which influences the safety of urban environments and crime. However, the evaluation of the environment by the use of CPTED model could make it possible to identify places which have safety or crime related problems. The use of CPTED or other similar design concepts as a part of urban planning and development may increase the feeling of safety and help prevent crime.