Safety and Security in Urban Public Spaces as a

significant component of Social Sustainability

ABSTRACT
The social dimension to sustainability is now widely accepted as important alongside with
environmental and economic sustainability. Safety and security as one of the aspects of social
sustainability has been undertheorized in the built environment fraternity. Research has
proven that theories that dominate the field of urban safety come from social sciences, but the
motives of this paper are to report and discuss findings from a critical review of local and
international literature of the role of other perspectives, especially those developed by built
environment professionals and practitioners. In addition, to assess the design deficiencies of
urban public paces (UPS) that lead to them creating an environment for criminality and
exposure to threats and vulnerabilities. Based on a five-stage literature review, 39 articles on
safety and security of UPS were critically analysed. A bibliometric analysis using the
visualisation of similarities (VOSviewer) software was adopted. The review findings reveal that
safety and security in UPS is associated with the environmental design features such as
accessibility, visibility, etc. Secondly, surveillance measure in UPS do not address the safety
concerns rather concentrates mainly on controlling the space rather than people, in that it
interferes with spatial planning. This paper argues that spatial structure affects citizens to do
crime. An innovative urban management is necessary, and it would result from a synergy
between social and structural elements of a city. To guarantee inclusive and accessible
landscape designs, personal safety should be part of the design features of UPS. Spatial
planning as a discipline should incorporate measures to combat crime in the city.

Keywords: Crime; Vulnerability; Public space design; Safety; Security.

1. INTRODUCTION

There is no environment that reflects the meaning of urban life better than a public space does
(Ceccato, 2016). The focus of this paper is to assess the safety and security of UPS in South
Africa and bridge the knowledge gap in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance
of safer UPS. The need to assure a high level of security (Sinkienė, Stankeviče, & Navickaite,
2012) for the city’s inhabitants and visitors is one of the most important tasks of local
government. However, governments have come to realise that safety is about not only security
but also community involvement, interaction, and social cohesion. Therefore, the regulation of
these UPS is influenced greatly by debates about crime, disorder, and insecurity (Barker,
2016). To advocate for the design of safer and more inclusive cities, geographies of exclusion
that have come to define these cities need to be unpacked. Research has proven that theories
that dominate the field of urban safety come from social sciences (Sinkienė et al, 2012),
criminology and urban studies (Barker, 2016).
Crime, disorder, antisocial behaviour, and perceptions of insecurity have become organizing
objectives of urban governance (Barker, 2016) with distinct implications for the manner in
which public spaces are planned, designed and regulated when inflected through mentalities
of risk and reassurance. Therefore, the motive in this paper is to emphasize the role of other
perspectives, especially those developed by landscapers, architects and town and regional
planners. This paper reports and discusses findings from a critical review of local and
international literature on safety and security of UPS. It begins by discussing the
interdisciplinary insights of UPS safety and security. It explores the right to city and its public
spaces, what determines access to and how these UPS are regulated. Results of this paper
help to identify and suggest corrections in previous UPS planning, as well as to avoid them in
future projects. This change should help to achieve a higher level of safety in cities and,
respectively, higher level of their attractiveness and a more successful development.

3. BACKGROUND

3.1 The Concept of safer Urban Public Spaces

Urban planner’s perspectives towards the causes and solutions for crime prevention and
control in cities (Sinkienė et al, 2012), relate crime to environmental design factors, such as
orientation of entrances and windows, lighting, street accessibility, area visibility, and so on.
The issue of safety includes both natural and manufactured disasters. Thinking about safety
is a fundamental part when thinking about the relationship between human and the
environment (Senda, 2015). It can be argued that perhaps the environmental factors
mentioned above are no longer serving the cities with that desired effect but need to be
revisited and assessed as to whether any improvements or betterments are needed or not.
High rate of crime in cities, especially in urban public spaces are reported annually. High rate
of crime in a city is a serious barrier for the city spatial and economic development, for an
example, businesses will migrate to safer places (Sinkienė et al, 2012).

Access to a violence free and safe public space is the basic right. Phadke (2007) argues that
the right to the city and its public spaces should remain a core objective of social justice
movements. He suggests that the right to the city means a right not only to inhabit urban
spaces but also to participate in a city as an ongoing work of creation, production, and
negotiation. He perceives that the struggle for this right is not only about individuals or even
groups thereof but also about the inhabitant’s vision for the future of cities and their ideas of
urban democracy. If our urban public spaces are perceived to be dysfunctional, how then do
we realise this basic right? It is as if the right to UPS for certain marginal groups has been
significantly curtailed. It can be argued that for this right to be maintained even after the design,
construction and maintenance of UPS, these spaces should be regulated either by the
government or privately.

Moreover, this securing of the city has led to charges that the ‘right to the city’ for certain
marginal groups have become significantly curtailed fuelling debates about the decline of civil
liberties and ‘the end of public space’ (Barker, 2016). Sinkienė et al (2012), is of the view that
an innovative urban management would result from a synergy between social and structural
elements of a city. Constructing new urban public spaces is one thing, but the question
remains: do urban planners, landscapers and architects ever think of what needs to be done
on the existing public spaces to combat the feelings of insecurities? Some could argue to say
the introduction of technological equipment (i.e., closed-circuit television - CCTV) is an answer
to this question. However, Zurawski (2010), used a survey to assess the role of feelings of
security and how they might impact attitudes about CCTV. He highlights that the perceived
safeness of a space / feelings of safety among people has little to do with the technology and
more with socio-relations, of which space is but one part. He suggests that CCTV as a
surveillance measure mainly concentrates on controlling the space rather than people, in that
it interferes with spatial planning.

However, not every UPS needs a camera. Use of cameras, arguably, in some parts of UPS
could be viewed as 1) an invasion of privacy 2) Davies & Velastin (2007) argues that there is
unfortunately no assurance that surveillance systems will always be used responsibly and only
by those with the public interest and safety in mind. Spatial structure of the city has an
inevitable role in the city’s safeness and security. Bengtsson (2018) is of the view that spatial
structure in communities affect the citizens to do crime. Spatial planning as a discipline should
incorporate measures to combat crime in the city. In support of the later (Ratnayake, 2017)
suggests that spatial environments may influence individuals’ feelings of fear and criminal
behaviour. Re-designing the city streets and buildings could help to create comfortable
environments reducing the need for air-conditioning and artificial lighting. In doing so, Sinkienė
et al (2012) believes that streets and territories, which are located near the mostly integrated
areas, deserve the greatest part of attention of planners, decision-makers, residents, etc.

Safety in UPS is not an issue that can easily be dealt with within the boundaries of a single
discipline such as criminology (Ceccato, 2016) or sociology. Viswanath & Mehrotra (2008)
argues that the solution to UPS safety must emerge from the consultative processes with the
community and deferent disciplines. There is no single discipline that could achieve safety
and security of UPS in isolation. The discourse around urban safety must be located within a
broader framework of rights (Viswanath & Mehrotra, 2008). Public participation is key for
planning and designing safer UPS. Ratnayake (2017) argues that to plan and design safer
UPS requires a greater public consultation and participation. Urban development must enable
vibrant economic, social and political engagement for the community, especially the needs of
the most vulnerable. Cities need to create spaces for all, and the discourse of inclusion must
be addressed through policies and structural changes (Viswanath, 2013).

This same author postulate that to create infrastructure that is accessible to all, urban planners
and service providers need to include gender concerns and women’s needs in their planning.
However, well-designed, well-built and well-maintained UPS are more likely to be used by a
more diverse set of users, including women, children, elderly, disabled and others. One factor
to the feeling of safe is lighting, which can change the way people look at urban trails and
public space and allows people to use the area 24 hours per day. Lighting has been used
many times historically but without deeper consideration for human needs in landscape
architecture and the design process (Bengtsson, 2018 & Whitzman et al, 2009).

3.2 Urban Public Spaces for all

Cities are a particular form of social life (Viswanath & Mehrotra, 2007) that allow for and
encourage different understandings and usages of UPS that are deeply gendered, in both
access and the right to UPS. As mentioned above that access to a violence free and safe
public space is the basic right and this right should remain the core objective of social justice
movement. UPS are those areas where all citizens, irrespective of gender, class, age, ability,
or any other social identity, have the right to access (Bhattacharyya, 2015). Recently, access
to and use of UPS is increasingly becoming a privilege rather than a universal right (Barker,
2017). The fear and insecurities that vulnerable population face in accessing UPS prevents
them from availing the benefits of being an urban citizen (Viswanath & Mehrotra, 2007). The
feeling of lack of safety is highly intensified by physical obstacles such as poor maintenance,
poor accessibility, isolated or deserted areas (Kallus & Churchman, 2004)

In an investigation of mediated conviviality and the urban social order, Barker (2016) found
three competing mentalities regarding the safety and security of public spaces. He points out
that these mentalities were drawn from within the fields of criminology and urban studies,
notably:

• Preventive exclusion: assumes that maintaining order requires excluding ‘risky’ people
from public space.
• Reassurance policing: assumes that fostering perceptions of security and order in
public spaces is a centrally important function of urban governance.
• The right to the city: assumes that rights are a central organizing concept and public
space acts as a barometer of social justice.

However, having mentioned these mentalities above and whether these will eventually yield
safer urban public spaces remains fundamental for the purpose of this study. The right to
access and use the UPS is dependent on the kinds of boundaries imposed and the nature of
the space and its usage (Viswanath & Mehrotra, 2007).

Privatization of urban public spaces is a key aspect of safety and security in these spaces
(Bengtsson, 2018). However, public spaces that are based on the principle of exclusion
(Phadke, 2007) might allow some to enjoy gated “high security” spaces and in a larger sense
do little to expand people’s access to the city. Every area is different though, depending on
the people, the country, the city, nature, and other important factors. Because Bengtsson
(2018) views the gated UPS as a key aspect of safety and security. He argues that when a
space is moved from public to private, security is increased. His viewpoint is that UPS always
need more eyes thus privatising them could be an answer.
In some countries access is restricted according to the time of the day or type of activity rather
than absolute and targeted at specific populations what Thorn (2011) calls 'sanitization' of
UPS or soft 'enforcement'. These UPS are accessible yet closed, and inclusive yet controlled.
In South African urban areas and in many parts of the world, accessing public spaces at night
without male companions is a risk taking for women (Sur, 2014). Therefore, for women to
access public spaces depends on their ability to manufacture respectability and legitimate
purpose of accessing. People enjoy themselves in privatized public spaces like nightclubs and
lounges without having to access public spaces (Sur, 2014). Furthermore, UPS are not
universally accessible for young people and are generally considered adult spaces unless a
specific area is designated for them (Dunkley, 2004).

Free and safe access to the city's most important public resources could lead to the economic
decay of the city (Kallus & Churchman, 2004). This could be a national disaster especially if it
happens in an economic hub city of the nation such as Johannesburg in South Africa.

4. RESEARCH METHODS

This paper is an outcome of a critical review of literature exploring both local and international
perspectives of landscapers, architects, town and regional planners on the subject. The
objective of this paper is to assess the safety and security of urban public spaces in South
Africa. To achieve this objective, a critical bibliometric review of the related literature spanning
to a decade was conducted. The authors believe that safety and security of urban public
spaces cannot be addressed by a single discipline. It needs collaborations across the fields
of study, especially by built environment professionals. If South African urban public spaces
are to attract people from all community spheres even abroad, spatial planning as a discipline
should incorporate safety and security features in the city planning. The environment created
by these professionals plays an inevitable role in assuring personal safety.
Science mapping was adopted as a primary mothed for this inquiry. This method was selected
based on several reasons: (1) it is a generic process of domain visualisation and analysis, (2)
it has previously been adopted in construction management research, (3) it characterises
intellectual interrelations within the dynamically different systems of scientific knowledge, and
(4) it focusses on displaying the structural and dynamic aspects of scientific research
(Makabate et al, 2020). Literature was reviewed, analysed and synthesised through a five-
stage process from deferent fields of study particularly the built environment professionals in
attempt to elicit criticisms and gaps in the planning, construction and management of safer
urban public space including revitalising the existing ones. The five-stage process included:
 • In-depth and comprehensive review: thematic analysis including ‘the concept of
safer urban public spaces’ and ‘urban public spaces for all’ was undertaken.
• Select the data source: Scopus-catalogued journals with the classification of public
spaces, urban development, urban planning, urban growth, and sustainable
development were selected.
• Perform the preliminary search: only peer-reviewed articles were selected for further
analysis. Books and conference proceedings were excluded. This process resulted in
68 documents which qualified for the next stage of screening.
• Focus on the development of UPS: a more comprehensive and visual search of the
targeted urban planning journals were included in the analysis. This stage excluded
articles that were more focused on political sciences. This process resulted in 39
documents to qualify for the next and final stage of the screening process.
• Identify research documents: a bibliographical data was exported from the SCOPUS
search engine using a Comma Separated Values (CSV) format. The CSV file was
imported into VOSviewer to scientifically map safety and security of UPS.

7. RESULTS AND FINDINGS

In this section, a thorough comparison of deferent scholarly viewpoints from deferent fields of
study in attempt to compare different points of view or constructs from safety and security
studies of urban public spaces was conducted. Based on the related literature conducted
above, the study reveals that urban planner’s perspectives towards the causes and solutions
for crime prevention and control in cities, relate crime to environmental design factors, such
as orientation of entrances and windows, lighting, street accessibility, area visibility, and so
on. However, the issue of safety in UPS cannot be limited only to those environmental design
factors but includes both natural and manufactured disasters.
Due to high levels of crime in UPS, many cities have resorted to in introduction of surveillance
technology to regulate these spaces. An interesting finding is that safeness of a space /
feelings of safety among people has little to do with the technology and more with socio-
relations, of which space is but one part. Literature reveals that surveillance measure mainly
concentrates on controlling the space rather than people, in that it interferes with spatial
planning. Spatial structure in communities affect the citizens to do crime. An innovative urban
management would result from a synergy between social and structural elements of a city. It
is interesting to note that solutions to UPS safety must emerge from the consultative processes
with the community and deferent disciplines. Again, and more importantly, there is no single
discipline that could achieve safety and security of UPS in isolation.
One important finding is that the discourse around urban safety must be located within a
broader framework of rights. These rights are believed to be a central organizing concept in
public spaces and acts as a barometer of social justice. A significant finding is that for this
right to be maintained even after the design, construction and maintenance of UPS, these
spaces should be regulated either by the government or privately. Therefore, one urban
management approach of privatization of UPS is revealed as a key aspect in ensuring safety
and security in these spaces. Another significant finding is that public participation is key for
planning and designing safer UPS.
Literature revealed three competing mentalities regarding the safety and security of public
spaces preventative exclusion, reassurance policing, and the right to the city. It is also very
interest to note that to create infrastructure that is accessible to all, urban planners and service
providers need to include gender concerns and women’s needs in their planning. Spatial
planning as a discipline should incorporate measures to combat crime in the city. More results
are evident in the distribution of documents published per country, table 1 below depicts:
Table 1: Distribution of documents per country

Total link
Item Country Documents Citation strength
1 France 1 29 2
2 Spain 1 29 2
3 United States 6 214 2
4 Germany 2 24 0
5 Israel 1 7 0
6 Japan 1 8 0
7 Sri Lanka 1 8 0
8 Sweden 3 32 0
9 Switzerland 1 23 0
10 United Kingdom 6 132 0

It is very interesting to note from the above table the number of documents published per
country in the safety of UPS subject area. Only the United States (n = 6) and the United
Kingdom (n = 6) where at least there are a few documents published. Furthermore, these two
countries have had the most citations (n = 214) for USA and (n = 132) for UK. What is also
critical to note from the table is that the most cited documents are coming from the developed
countries. Not even a single African country is featured in the table above. Figure 1 below
shows a network of keywords used in the documents shown in the table above.
 Figure 1: Author keywords occurrences

Table 2 below the number of documents published per source. The below table indicates lack
of interest from scholars in the area of security in urban planning and design. Most sources
produced only one document in the period of analysis. However, these single documents per
sources have had quite a glaring number of citations.
Total link
Item Sources Documents Citation strength
1 Children's Geographies 2 25 1
2 Cultural Geographies 1 8 0
3 Economic and Political Weekly 2 116 0
4 Environment and Urbanization 1 18 0
5 Gender, Place and Culture 1 29 1
6 IATSS Research 1 8 0
7 International Criminal Justice Review 1 8 0
8 International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 1 83 0
9 Planning Theory and Practice 1 7 0
10 Professional Geographer 1 103 0
11 Psychology of Violence 1 28 0
12 Rural Society 1 8 0
13 Security Journal 2 18 0
14 Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory 1 21 0
15 Social Indicators Research 1 23 0
16 Space and Culture 1 19 0

Figure 2 below shows authors’ bibliographic coupling in the safety and security of urban public
spaces.
 Figure 2: Authors’ bibliographic coupling

8. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Looking at UPS as an inherently social concept, we can draw attention to how UPS is always
negotiated, defined, and redefined by different scholars. Beyond the physical reality of UPS
lies an inherently social nature that influences people’s actions and relationships they have or
might have towards one another. UPS as a social concept allows us to examine these safety
and security implications. Infrastructure development must guarantee safety in cities. The
demand for infrastructure to reduce risks and enhance access should be part of generalised
claim that all citizens have to good infrastructure. High accessibility means more opportunities
to walk rather than drive and if access to parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities is
guaranteed physical activities are increased.
The high levels of crime and free access to the city’s most important public resources could
lead to social divides and economic decay. Many cities have incorporated safety guidelines
into their official plans and zoning by-laws, the same can be done, if at all, in South Africa.
This would allow planners to demand that safety features in the city planning are adequate.
9. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This paper highlighted the environmental design deficiencies of urban public spaces and the
state of safety and security these designs have in these spaces. The study identified that the
urban planner’s perspective relates safety and security in UPS to environmental design
factors. These factors are no longer serving the cities with the desired effect but need to be
revisited and assessed as to whether any improvements or betterments are needed or not.
The results reveal that spatial structure in cities affect individuals to do crime, therefore
innovative urban management approaches are needed.
Recommendations
All the states must take urgent steps to revamp and strengthen highly efficient public lighting
facilities, perhaps using smarter lights. Possibly, the urban spaces of each state must initiate
to install Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps, which are deemed as highly efficient having 50,000
hours of life. It is evident that although initial installation of these lamps involves higher capital
costs, but being highly energy efficient, it would entail higher savings in terms of its operations
and maintenances. This will spur the safety and security of the urban spaces and boost public
confidence.
Deteriorating, redundant and demolished buildings with easy access become vulnerable
spaces influencing the state of safety in cities. The solution to urban insecurities, particularly
for women must come from the community, the state and the built environment professionals.
Consultative processes where the voice of all, especially the vulnerable populations, is
fundamental in the design of urban public spaces. Their voice needs to be heard and given
value if UPS are to guarantee access for all. An approach towards to safer cities involves
education on issues of violence, and grassroots community organisation and action towards
the achievement of equal access to spaces. Urban development must enable vibrant
economic, social, and political engagement for the community, especially the needs of the
most vulnerable. Cities need to create spaces for all, and the discourse of inclusion must be
addressed through policies and structural changes.

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