The correlates of residents’ perception of safety in gated communities in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the correlates of residents’ perception of safety (PS) within gated communities (GCs) in Ibadan, Nigeria. This study specifically identifies relevant factors to fear of crime and discusses the residents’ general perception of safety within GCs in five (5) residential areas consisting of fifty-seven (57) GCs which were randomly selected. For this purpose, the study employed a conceptual model which identified four dependents variables consisting of the physical characteristics, social capital and resident’s socio-economic and experiences of safety. Data for the study was obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Questionnaire survey and direct observation were used to obtain the primary data. From the four thousand, nine hundred and twenty-two (4,922) buildings in the study areas, four hundred and ninety-three (493), representing 10% were sampled using systematic sampling technique while three hundred and ninety-six (396) questionnaires, (80.3%) were retrieved. The information obtained from questionnaires retrieved from the respondents indicating their PS were analysed using correlation, multiple regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The significant levels of association were determined at either 0.01 or 0.05 probability level. The results indicated that residents’ PS with the physical characteristics, social capital and resident’s experiences of safety was above average. The results showed significant correlations between PS and the physical Characteristics, social capital, resident’s socio-economic characteristics and experiences of safety (p ​< ​0.01). The study has implications for ensuring enhanced safety in the future design and development of gated communities and provided relevant indices for achieving safety in residential neighbourhood development. The study concluded that the safety needs of neighbourhoods varied and the pathways for generating improvements included: crime preventions through environmental design, surveillance, homeownership potentials development; social interaction and improvement in the concepts of territoriality, surveillance, milieu and image.