ABSTRACT

Many communities with minimal or no experience of naturalized landscapes have questioned the viability of the Dutch approach when these landscapes are proposed for their own particular social and physical environments. Questions about safety and security consistently arise, which in many cases have the effect of restricting the potential to bring diversity and sensory richness to public places. The basic right of the public, particularly women, to feel safe from crime in their neighbourhoods, public streets, parks and workplaces is central to civilized life. It is also important to recognize that the perception of safety is more significant than actual statistics since it is perception that lies at the heart of the problem. Studies in the USA and in Britain point to the economic decay of downtown areas as a direct result of fear of crime.39 The Safe City Committee of the City of Toronto has stated that sexual assault, the crime most feared by women, is also a far more terrifying crime than robbery, which is the crime most feared by men.40 It is for this reason that a number of cities including London, Amsterdam and Toronto have focused on making public spaces safer through concentrating on violence against women. The City of Toronto Safe Cities Committee has published a guide for planning and designing safer urban environments which includes ways in which the safety of places may be enhanced. The measures include:

the need for appropriate lighting for pedestrians as well as for motorists in public spaces;

sightlines – the ability to see what is ahead along a route, the avoidance of blind corners, impermeable landscape screens and so on;

avoidance of tunnels, pedestrian bridges, narrow passageways that offer no alternative choice for pedestrians;

avoidance of ‘entrapment’ spots, such as small, confined areas (for example, recessed entrances);

the need for places that have visual surveillance, where people can watch others; the value of activity generators, such as food stands that maintain informal surveil-

lance of places; ensuring a sense of ownership or territoriality in neighbourhoods and public spaces; the need for appropriate signage and information about places, such as main roads,

exit signs and main pedestrian routes.41