Assessing the Impact of Street-View Greenery on Fear of Neighborhood Crime in Guangzhou, China.

Fengrui Jing,Lin Liu,Jiangyu Song,Suhong Zhou,Hanlin Zhou,Linsen Wang,Yiwen Wang,Ruofei Ma

doi:10.3390/ijerph18010311

Abstract

Previous literature has examined the relationship between the amount of green space and perceived safety in urban areas, but little is known about the effect of street-view neighborhood greenery on perceived neighborhood safety. Using a deep learning approach, we derived greenery from a massive set of street view images in central Guangzhou. We further tested the relationships and mechanisms between street-view greenery and fear of crime in the neighborhood. Results demonstrated that a higher level of neighborhood street-view greenery was associated with a lower fear of crime, and its relationship was mediated by perceived physical incivilities. While increasing street greenery of the micro-environment may reduce fear of crime, this paper also suggests that social factors should be considered when designing ameliorative programs.

Highlights

The relationship between fear and vegetated areas has been examined in the literature
Higher perceived social integration was associated with a lower fear and perceived physical and social incivilities were positively correlated with fear of crime
Higher perceived social integration was associated with a lower fear of sonal income, and prior victimization were significantly related to fear of crime

Summary

Introduction

The relationship between fear and vegetated areas has been examined in the literature. In the studies conducted on urban parks, densely wooded areas have consistently been related to fear [1,2]. There has been a rising interest in studying the relationship between the amount of urban green space and perceived neighborhood safety [5,6,7]. The urban green space data based on satellite images are widely used by scholars [8,9]. The downward-facing satellite represents a bird-eye-view, and cannot accurately reflect people’s perceived green space from the ground-level perspective. The Street View Index (SVI) at eye-level [10,11] has been widely used. Eye-level street greenery can more accurately reflect exposures to green space, including small-sized and vertical natural elements (e.g., trees along a street, small plants, and grasses) [11]

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