Safe Public Spaces Research Articles

Sustainable and Safe Public Spaces for Everyday Life in Socio-Spatially Segregated Communities

How es Item possible to achieve a conceptual relationship between sustainability , security and public space in sociospatially segregated areas? The article aims to address the main theoretical positions on the topic of sustainabilitylinked to environmental safety in public spaces in such a way that Item seeks to glimpse and mitigate que these newspaces conditions are that influence the safety of neighborhoods and cities on a metropolitan scale . Starting from acritical /reflective stance and through documentary analysis , the aim es to establish a semantic network , as well as acloud of words to determine the level of concurrence in this way to establish que relationship exists or does not existsbetween sustainability , security and public space in socially segregated areas , especially , this article is a documentaryand exploratory document that allows us to clarify the problems present at metropolitan scales in Latin America .

Two in one. The norm for safe public space as a ‘guide’ and ‘verification’ of the project

Even today we are faced with a social demand for safer urban spaces. Composition, functional features and management of such spaces are the principles behind a quality and, therefore, safe urban project. However, the orientation to safety and, therefore, to the prevention of those places requires great attention to the structure, organisation and methods of use. The “environmental design” is the perspective, and the application of UNI CEN/TS 14383-2:2023 goes in this direction. A useful tool for the project, this paper highlights the dual function of the Technical Specification, both as a ‘guide’ during the design phase, and as a tool for the ‘verification’ of the project’s final result.

Spacial Choices of Queer Urban Space: A Look into Queer Nightlife Establishments in China

This study examines the dynamics of queer public space in Chengdu, a major Chinese city. Considering the availability of access to different queer public spaces in China, we focus on Chengdu's night venue, entertainment, and digital public space and investigate their significance in creating queer community and sense of belonging. Observation, interviews, case studies, and document review is used to explore the queer space in Chengdu and reveal the obstacles queer community face when constituting safe queer space under the relatively oppressive ideology of the country. Investigating the problems through the lens of multi-disciplines such as urban sociology and gender studies, we take a view of the queer public space itself from an urban planning perspective which examines its design rationality as pure space constitution and analyzes the driving force for such design in gender studies perspective which involves discussion of intersectionality and analysis of patriarchal society. The queer urban space serves a critical function for the queer community by gathering the scattered population and providing a safe space to express their identities. By investigating the contemporary queer public space in Chengdu and making comparisons with that in other countries, this study uncovers the struggle and efforts of the queer community to establish their safe public space in combat with the heteronormative society.

COVID-19 violence and the re-making of urban space through solidarity networks among transgender women in Lima, Peru

ABSTRACT Extreme instances of COVID-19 policy-related violence against transgender (trans) communities in Latin America highlight the imperative to better understand how gender, power, and rights are entwined within public spaces. Peru is a useful vantage point to explore the intersections between gendered power asymmetries, violence, and access to safe public spaces, given the brief COVID-19 public health policy that restricted the mobility of its citizens based on binary understandings of sex and associated cisheteronormativity. These policies restricted access to public spaces and essential services to women on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and to men on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and were enforced based on sex assigned at birth reported via identity documents. Drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with Peruvian trans women, this paper examines the impacts of these COVID-19 policies on trans communities and documents grassroots activism efforts to navigate public space that ultimately demand and assert human rights both during and post-COVID-19. Findings illustrate that while short-lived, the sex-based policies and associated policing in urban public space significantly impacted the well-being of Peruvian trans women. Participants illustrated numerous community-enacted strategies to navigate COVID-19 inequities, including information sharing, crowd-sourcing funds to secure food, pay rent and/or secure housing, and grocery shopping provided by trans people for trans people. Further, community mutual aid efforts have continued and evolved years into the pandemic. Jointly, findings advance understandings of the critical role of public spaces as arenas of political struggles that reveal and challenge a wider spectrum of intersecting oppressions and power structures that trans women continually navigate and resist.

Making cities mental health friendly for adolescents and young adults

Urban life shapes the mental health of city dwellers, and although cities provide access to health, education and economic gain, urban environments are often detrimental to mental health1,2. Increasing urbanization over the next three decades will be accompanied by a growing population of children and adolescents living in cities3. Shaping the aspects of urban life that influence youth mental health could have an enormous impact on adolescent well-being and adult trajectories4. We invited a multidisciplinary, global group of researchers, practitioners, advocates and young people to complete sequential surveys to identify and prioritize the characteristics of a mental health-friendly city for young people. Here we show a set of ranked characteristic statements, grouped by personal, interpersonal, community, organizational, policy and environmental domains of intervention. Life skills for personal development, valuing and accepting young people’s ideas and choices, providing safe public space for social connection, employment and job security, centring youth input in urban planning and design, and addressing adverse social determinants were priorities by domain. We report the adversities that COVID-19 generated and link relevant actions to these data. Our findings highlight the need for intersectoral, multilevel intervention and for inclusive, equitable, participatory design of cities that support youth mental health.

Losing a part of life: experiences of cancer survivors accessing treatment and sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To explore experiences of sheltering in place and accessing treatment during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic among survivors with cancer receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. Participants from two pilot studies evaluating TKI therapy use in the Southeastern United States during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) were interviewed. Identical interview guides were used across both studies to assess participants' experiences accessing cancer treatment, sheltering in place, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digitally recorded sessions were transcribed professionally and checked for accuracy. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize participant sociodemographics, and a six-step thematic approach was used to analyze interview data and identify salient themes. Dedoose qualitative research software was used to manage and organize qualitative codes, themes, and memos. Participants (n = 15) ranged from 43 to 84years of age, and were mostly female (53.3%), married (60%), and survivors with hematologic malignancies (86.7%). The research team identified five salient themes: Participants followed pandemic guidelines, Variable impact on well-being, Common feelings of fear, anxiety and anger, No barriers to accessing therapy and medical care, and Faith and God as powerful forces for coping. The conclusions of the study provide several implications for survivorship programs or clinics for supporting survivors who are taking chronic TKI therapy during COVID-19, including enhancement of current psychosocial support efforts for cancer survivors or development of new programs tailored to the unique needs of a survivor during a pandemic, such as focused coping strategies, modified physical activity programs, family/professional role changes, and access to safe public spaces.

Public Open Space Assessment and Management: A case of Damak Municipality, Jhapa, Nepal

Abstract: Most of the public spaces are being used for the development of public buildings in the name of schools, hospitals, multi-purpose halls, temples, community buildings, etc. The lack of lively and quality public places is faced by all in recent years. There are several reasons why our city continues to encroach on public spaces. The public, even the city leaders are not well aware of the concept and importance of public space. A lack of capacity for development activities and a lack of competent human resources still exist in the establishment and management of public space. Political will and interest play vital roles in achieving lively and vibrant public spaces. The total area or percentage composition of public open spaces to the total area of the municipality illustrates how much people-friendly environment the municipality has been able to provide to its citizens. The aim of the research (which is based on the field survey of 2019 A.D.) is to identify the public open spaces in Damak municipality, assess their use and potentiality; and formulate policies regarding the management of these spaces. A combined strategies technique was considered for the facts series, which includes a self-administered questionnaire survey and observations. The research has identified 167 public spaces in this municipality and it concludes that the formulation of guidelines and laws, with their proper implementation, is a must to secure safe public spaces

Morphological Characteristics and Fear of Crime: A Case of Public Spaces in the Global North and South

The morphological characteristics of a city have a direct relationship with the human activities happening in the public spaces. If, however, the public spaces become unsafe, people may avoid them. On the other hand, safe public spaces allow free movement for everyone, which is the most basic human need and a crucial part of social sustainability. By focusing on the present-day realities that create the link between the implications for ownership and the provision of the public spaces, this research aims to understand the nature of the morphological characteristics of cities in the Global North and South and its impact on and association with fear of crime. Two case study streets in Stockholm, Sweden, and Karachi, Pakistan, are selected to establish a hypothesis. The study draws upon comprehensive data through a questionnaire survey and morphological analysis. The results suggest that the selected streets in the Global North and South show a similar morphological structure in terms of street layout, land use, plot patterns, and heights of the buildings but difference in pedestrian flows. In relation to the fear of crime, both streets show parks as risky places to visit at night. The results also show some differences in terms of people's responses to the fear of crime in relation to the city's morphology. For instance, people avoid vacant plots and petrol pumps in Karachi, while entrances to metro stations and hidden corners of buildings are considered risky places in Stockholm.

COVID-19: Interrogating the capitalist organization of the economy and society through the pandemic.

This editorial introduces eight papers included in this special issue on COVID-19. Together, these papers draw key theoretical and political insights for critical organization studies from the pandemic along three main lines. First, they examine how COVID-19 has denaturalized global capitalism, leading to a broad interrogation of the organization of the economy and our societies. Second, they point to how COVID-19 has unveiled the close relation between capital and the state in producing inequalities old and new, a relation that neoliberalism tends to hide from view. Third, they leverage COVID-19 to give voice to the largely female disposable workforce in the Global South on whose work global commodity flows, consumption and capital accumulation rest. We conclude by pointing to the need to address constitutive interdependencies, such as those between wage work and reproductive work, the global North and the global South, the market and the state, to name only a few. We further call for expanding traditional understandings of struggle to include a broader range of social antagonisms (e.g. for sufficient time to care, education, healthcare, housing, safe public spaces, accessible to all) as part of a theoretically and politically renewed organizational research agenda fostering solidarity.

State Homophobia, Sexual Politics, and Queering the Boğaziçi Resistance

In the midst of the Boğaziçi resistance against the top-down appointment of the new rector, a form of resistance to state homophobia emerges and resonates with the changing dynamics of sexual politics in Turkey. Following President Erdogan’s demonization of LGBTI+ students as terrorists, police raided their on-campus office and confiscated rainbow flags as what they called evidence of an assumed connection to terrorist activities. This essay examines the process through which the LGBTI+ students at Boğaziçi University epitomize the recent queering of sexualities in Turkey with their destabilizing and nonbinary gender/sexual identities, political struggles against heteronormativity and homonormativity, and recalcitrant demands for creating safe public spaces of performative, intimate, and challenging visibility. State homophobia manifest itself as a response to the students’ demands and to the institutional culture that enables the making of a queer public through activism and resistance.

What Art and Design Do for Social Inclusion in the Public Sphere

Art and design can meaningfully contribute to social change. It can shift debates, change perspectives, raise awareness, and act upon visible and invisible mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion of different agents occupying the public sphere. In this thematic issue we invited authors to relate to this claim as they preferred: by bringing evidence to support it, refute it, or simply to discuss the potential benefits and harms of artistically inspired and design related interventions in citizens living environment. We challenged authors to rethink agency and engage theoretically or empirically with how art and design installations act upon us, citizens, and vice‐versa. The result is a compilation of different storylines, coming from different geographical parts of the world and written from a variety of cultural perspectives. What binds these contributions is a true commitment to open up a space for those experiencing challenging life circumstances to access, occupy, or transform the public sphere. Our collective engagement with concepts such as power, prejudice, harassment or discrimination was not focused on erasing differences. Instead, we engaged with the idea that certain differences should matter less than they currently do in creating a safe and accessible public space for all.

The perception of public spaces in Mexico city, a governance approach

Public spaces are considered a vital ingredient of prosperous cities as they support their sense of community, identity and culture. Understanding their relevance, the Mexican government has developed new regulatory frameworks. In 2016, the first federal legislation in Mexico was created and combined the concepts of urban development, public space, and social participation. This change affected national and local regulations. Acknowledging that public spaces are anchored to the institutional and governance context, we based our explorative research from a theoretical perspective on the Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) and its five governance elements. Considering the regulatory and institutional framework for public spaces in Mexico, this research aims to understand how the different actors perceive the current conditions of public spaces in Mexico City. This research adopted a case study approach, and we conducted eight semi-structured interviews with stakeholders that participate in the planning process of public spaces in Mexico City. Through these interviews and revision of secondary sources, we found that all interviewed actors agree that the regulatory framework of public spaces differs with the application in practice, with legal gaps and lack of clarity in responsibilities which brings confusion among practitioners and developers of public space projects. The implementation of the public spaces policy is affected by the lack of continuity of public space projects and the discrepancies between the efforts to promote inclusive and safe public spaces, and a negative perception of society on the current conditions of public spaces.

Safe Neighborhood for Adolescent Girls: The Case of Urban Dense Kampong In Yogyakarta City Center

Nowadays, the percentage of adolescents living in urban areas is increasing, including in Indonesia. Unfortunately, urban planning and design are very limited in involving the perspective of youth, including the provision of safe public space. This paper is concerned with understanding safe public spaces from the perspective of adolescent girls. This paper aims to explore whether the neighborhood, specifically its public spaces, according to the girls' perspective is safe enough by using a case study approach with the case of a dense organic neighborhood in the city of Yogyakarta, Kampong Code. The information was obtained by observation, forum group discussion (FGD), and also by conducting a safety walk with local adolescent girls. This paper found that although from a normative perspective, public spaces in the neighborhood are considered as not safe enough, because they were familiar with this condition, they tend to perceive that as a usual situation.

Co-Designing Meaningful Dialogues on Sexual Harassment

We live in a dysfunctional world led by white-male dominated, patriarchal and capitalist societies that perpetuate continuous oppression. The public space is culturally perceived as a man’s world while women have been traditionally confined to the private one. Because claiming a safe public space for all is a political act, I want to actively cultivate a creative experience that facilitates dialogue, ideation and agency for self-identified women to reclaim their right to exist safely in it. My paper will focus on this creative experience, as a collective resistance, that started in Gainesville, FL at the Civic Media Center and has now become an ongoing, online and worldwide endeavour.

Scaling up urban infrastructure for physical activity in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Scaling up urban infrastructure for physical activity in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Learning from pandemics: Applying resilience thinking to identify priorities for planning urban settlements

Based in an interdisciplinary review of the literature on COVID-19 and recent outbreaks, this paper uses pandemics as a lens to examine the socio-ecological resilience of human settlements. This narrative literature review applies the conceptual framework for resilience developed for complex systems to identify five planning and policy issues critical to disease emergence, transmission, and outbreak. First, since urban settlements and activities facilitate pathogen transmission between species, reducing 'shocks' like zoonotic diseases and climate change requires not just prioritizing urbanization patterns and land use in urban policies for environmental health, but also animal rearing practices and biodiversity maintenance. Second, since disease transmission is linked to not just contact rate but also host susceptibility, reducing vulnerability by improving equity in access to essential infrastructures like housing, water, sanitation, healthy food, green/public spaces, healthcare—that impact human health directly and indirectly—is critical. In its absence, curbing disease transmission requires focusing on contact rate suppression, but doing so brings human activity to a halt, decimating the economy and livelihoods. Third, the persistence of many pathogens or their vectors in environmental media suggests that built environment & public health professionals must address maintenance of environmental quality at various scales. Fourth, there is a need for redundancy, be it in commodity supply chains (like PPE, food) or data management for say, monitoring & enforcement of home quarantines during a pandemic. Fifth, while it is crucial to have a centralized response for healthcare, decentralized infrastructure management has been critical during this outbreak: including participatory governance structures to recruit civil society in data collection and self-reporting, reliance on and quick development of mutual aid groups to distribute food and other essential supplies, localized approaches to repurposing infrastructures to create safe public spaces. This application of resilience thinking also evokes the need to study cities as social-ecological systems.

Interrogating Access to Public Space for Peace, Security and Development of African Cities

Literature suggests links between urbanisation patterns that favour public spaces, development, peace and security. Even though urbanisation statistics in many cities of Africa are the fastest globally, the patterns exhibited highlight the inability of such cities to cope with the challenges of rapid urbanization. Consequently, attendant problems of environmental degradation, inequalities, increasing restiveness and escalating spate of internally displaced persons (IDPs) invasion, occasioned by violent clashes in surrounding rural areas challenge these cities. These effects are most visible in the public spaces of many cities of Africa. As such there is the need for all-inclusive and safe public spaces for all citizens most especially the internally displaced. Inclusive, accessible and safe public spaces contribute diverse benefits to cities. So much so, that the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number eleven (11) of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable targets mainly public spaces. However, the idea of a homogenous, universally accessible, all-inclusive space has been argued to be utopian. This study, therefore, interrogates the relationship between access to public space, development, peace and security. Specific objectives include; an analysis of the trend in public space accessibility in Makurdi for 32 years, a comparative analysis of accessibility in public spaces between years where there were increased presence of IDPs and an examination of how IDPs engage with public space. Public spaces used for recreation were documented and observed. Respondents resident in Makurdi and using parks within the study period were disaggregated into 2 age cohorts (<60 and > 60 years) and administered with questionnaires. Focus group discussions and interviews with IDPs were carried out. Student’s t test and thematic analysis were used to make inferences. Findings indicate that places used for recreation by residents of Makurdi are more hybrid spaces like street corners and restaurants rather than traditional parks and gardens. Over the study period accessibility of public spaces has increased but there was no significant variation in accessibility between years where there were increased presences of IDPs in Makurdi. Engagement of IDPs with public space is poor on all indicators. The study recommended provision of places for recreation closer to the IDP camps as well as introduction of activates for all age categories and gender.

Supportive Built Environment for Active Aging in Korea’s Healthy City

Many small and medium-size towns in South Korea experience an increasing number of older adults growing older. This medium-size mountain city has been a member of WHO’s Healthy City Alliances and we investigated the impacts of built environment (BE) in the community on active aging. The purpose of the survey was to identify the BE affecting the residents’ physical activity level and quality of life. The survey data (N=630) were collected from the residents aged 40 years and over in May 2019 from a mountain city near a national park in Northeast part of Korea. The average age of the participants was 67.41 years of age and most wanted to stay in their community. Our descriptive data analysis show that the following items are perceived very important to address in creating more supportive environment: benches in public spaces; safe pathways and public transportation station; well-maintained sidewalks; affordable and accessible housing options. Regression models were also developed to examine the impacts of BE on activity level and quality of life. BE factors included the features related to outdoor spaces and buildings, public transportation, streetscape and housing, and found a significant relation between the participants’ activity level and public transportation in addition to demographic factors such as age and health status. Regarding the quality of life, the participants’ perception on outdoor spaces and buildings and safe public spaces were positively related to quality of life. The study showed the importance of supportive and age-friendly environments for active living.

The value of children’s access to safe public space: building urban children’s resilience against the shocks and threats of resettlement in manila, philippines

Access to safe public space is essential in underprivileged communities because the children that live there are the most dependent on the resources of their immediate environment. Scholars have shown that accessibility improves resident’s health, increases community cohesion, and promotes play. Yet, policymakers, planners, and architects struggle to justify access to safe public space in resource-constrained environments such as resettlement programs. Part I compares two in-city and off-city resettlement communities finding that teenagers in off-city resettlement sites face considerable impediments to access. Part II focuses on 16 teenagers’ daily experiences in four off-city resettlement communities concluding that many survive deficient environments by substituting virtual spaces or accessing dangerous spaces.

Application of the Unified Stream Assessment Method to Determine the Direction of Revitalization of Heavily Transformed Urban Rivers

The issues related to the assessment of the hydro morphological status of urban rivers in order to identify the revitalisation actions possible to be carried out, has been acquiring significant importance in recent years. The revitalisation of urban rivers and the waterfront urban space must be preceded by an assessment and determination of the direction of revitalisation measures necessary to be implemented. Most of the methods used worldwide to assess the hydro morphological condition of the river do not include the element of planning revitalization activities. Meanwhile, there is a close relationship between the morphological conditions of the river and its corridor, and the range of necessary and feasible activities aimed at recreating some of the natural features of the river, with the simultaneous increase in the possibility of using the adjacent area as a safe public space. The existing methods used to identify places where revitalisation works are possible, omit many morphological elements of the rivers under analysis. This makes impossible to monitor their morphological status later and assess the effectiveness of the implemented works. The paper presents the results of the Unified Stream Assessment (USA) method of the urban river Klodnica, located in Upper Silesia, which is the area with the largest degree of urbanisation and industrialisation in Poland. The conducted assessment allowed to determine possible revitalization activities, indicated significant limitations as well as the need to modify the USA method. Results of the study revealed that proposed revitalisation actions based on the USA assessment should take into account the nature of the whole watershed and not just river corridor. The modification of USA method results proper development of urban river assessment and revitalisation process.