Abstract
The relationship between plants and perceived safety in residential areas has been argued by landscape researchers, but there is inadequate or no relevant literature available on the effect of plants in urban parks’ safety. Therefore, a photo-questionnaire survey was conducted among urban park users in Tabriz, Iran to gauge the perceived safety of landscape scene with diverse types of texture to discover its effectiveness, especially in relation to the content of the scene. The survey was composed of 296 participants in November, 2012. The result suggested that landscape scene with vast aspect and physical access was perceived safer than the scene with crowded plants and blocked view. The findings demonstrated that a scene without lawn and water is perceived to be less safe than a scene with lawn and features of water. Moreover, landscape scene with more plant species was unsafe as compared to a scene with fewer plant species. This study proved that a landscape designed with ground cover such as lawn, grass and water feature implies increment of perceived safety in urban parks. Likewise, landscape designers should avoid crowded planting in areas, which obstructs visibility in urban parks and reduces perceived safety. The results expand the application of routine activity (RA) theory in park landscape design in Tabriz, Iran. Key words: Urban parks, landscape content and perceived safety.
Highlights
Urban park is one of the most important and public open space in big cities
This research tends to answer these following questions: what is the most preferred planting pattern for urban parks in Tabriz? In general, what is the most preferred planting pattern in Tabriz urban parks? How is the relationship between landscape patterns and perceived safety in urban parks in Tabriz? The procedure and methodology used in this study are explained below
The results of public photo selection procedure were emailed to the experts in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Summary
Urban park is one of the most important and public open space in big cities. It is a multifunctional area that can be used for wide range of activities. Michael and Hull (1994) explained that criminals use regularly dense vegetated areas to hide their activities and fear of crime is more tangible when the vegetated close views of scenes and visibility of areas are limited (Michael and Hull, 1994). Nasar (1982) explained that landscape features such as plants with high heights are associated with less fear of crime and the result supports a study by Brower et al (1983) They said that properties with trees and shrubs appear safer than they do not. Their study described that significant negative correlation exists between existence of vegetation with total crimes, properties and violent crimes in the inner-city neighborhood areas They explain that vegetation enhances illegal activities via providing settings for hiding and to prevent the phenomenon proper visibility should be enhanced in the vegetated areas. This research tends to answer these following questions: what is the most preferred planting pattern for urban parks in Tabriz? In general, what is the most preferred planting pattern in Tabriz urban parks? How is the relationship between landscape patterns and perceived safety in urban parks in Tabriz? The procedure and methodology used in this study are explained below
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