3 Case Study: Gauteng Province, South Africa
In the context of this class and the concept of planetary urbanism, I chose this case study from South Africa to offer another perspective on gated communities in a global context. As I’ve mentioned before, Western gated communities are better known that such enclaves from other parts of the world. Additionally, South Africa offers an extensive background on crimi-nal activities and urban fear among the population. The following case study by Karina Landman focuses on the Gauteng Province (which includes South Africa’s capital Pretoria as well as Johannesburg) from an urban planning perspective. With the concept of urban fear in mind, I will exemplify how fear of crime influences the urban area inside and outside of gated commu-nities.
3.1 Background
Landman’s study compares two enclosed neighborhoods (neighborhoods where public roads were closed off) and two large luxury security villages with each other to identify similarities and differences between the four of them. Their locations are shown in the following figure 1. A larger map of the province within South Africa can be seen in figure 2. Fig. 1: Location of the 4 gated
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As to be expected, this leads to a large demand for secure areas as, in addition to the victim-ized citizens, fear spreads among the general public. This does not only ap-ply to residential areas: property crime affects businesses as well, which leads to a constant increase of security measures, such as surveillance cam-eras, bullet-proof glass, security gates and high fences or walls around the properties. Citizens follow these responses and install surveillance cameras, alarm systems and panic buttons in their homes, depending on their finan-cial situation and location. This does not only apply to private homes but to apartment buildings as well (Landman 2005,
Every type of building, from a high tech research lab, to a grocery store and even private residences can gain a physical security advantage utilizing CCTV video surveillance to guard against theft and break-ins. CCTV is a great tool for the security professional. It records everything on hours of tape. All that transpires be it; a routine day, a theft or robbery, arguments between employees, irate customers etc. But with all types of CCTV systems on the market one must choose what best fits their needs. As noted by Baker & Benny (2013) “ when considering the design and selection of a video surveillance system, the physical security designer, user, or integrator needs to consider the individual needs of each use case and market with which he or she is working” (p. 123). As in the case of Stew Leonard’s Grocery store, their CCTV’s systems includes 500 cameras! That is a lot of video to review for theft investigations. In the situation concerning the monitoring of the Innsbrook Resort residential properties, the security firm wanted to reduce the amount of false alarms that were occurring and the associated time wasted responding to them (Purvis, 2012, para. 12). In both cases, the clients
Sally Engle Merry’s “Urban Danger: Life in a Neighborhood of Strangers” explores the urban danger associated with living in a neighborhood with “strangers.” The ethnographic study centralizes around a multiethnic housing project in a neighborhood with high crime; Dover Square Project. She emphasizes the relevance of social groups and the impact it maintains in promoting the idea of danger in urbanities. Merry focuses her attention on the impression the residents’ have, which is “that they live in a world of dangerous and unpredictable strangers” and the contrasting reality. Throughout the article, she clarifies this misconception and explores how the boundaries between the ethnic groups promote anonymity, which then in response fosters opportunities for
Burglaries, robberies, and shootings, all of which may leave victims or innocent bystanders severely hurt or dead, are now frequent enough to concern all urban and many suburban residents. Living in a dangerous environment places young people at risk of falling victim to such malicious and aggressive behavior observed and learned from others. Social institution such as education, family, religion, peer groups, etc., play a major role in the influence of crime in the urban neighborhoods that Anderson describes. As said in the essay, "although almost everyone in poor inner-...
For Jacobs these four keys started just outside the front door, she recognised the importance the street had in cultivating diversity as well as how a lack of safety on the streets could impact it negatively, “The problem of sidewalk and doorstep insecurity is as serious in cities which have made conscientious efforts at rebuilding as those in cities that have lagged” (J. Jacobs …). Although efforts were often made by planners to make the streets safer she felt they missed the mark and that in some ways districts were even tailor made for easy crime. The orthodox approach was that if green space such as a park was provided nearby then it would provide an area for safe play and recreation within the city, however it was often the case that the issues of insecurity on the streets spilled over into the parkland as well. “It is futile to try to evade the issue of unsafe cities by attempting to make
An academic study done on violent crime in San Antonio for the SciVerse Science Direct journal analyzes how built in environmental characteristics influence such a diverse and rapidly growing city. San Antonio’s population consists of 60% Hispanics, a poverty rate of over 18%, a teenage birth rate of 39/1000, and a homicide rate of 6.9 per 100,000 (302). The results of the study indicate that residential instability, poverty and low education rates are the biggest factors contributing to San Antonio’s crime increase (not forgetting the obvious population increase contribution). Almost 7% of San Antonio homes are “vacant” while 40% are rented, not owned (Sparks 304). The author explains that rented homes are usually what are inhabited by single mothers, military members, minorities, and lower income families that have increased chances of poverty and susceptibility to criminal involvement (Sparks 305). O’Sullivan shows how the relationship between crime and wage is very elastic, so a 10% increase in wages would lead to a 10% decrease in crime. In San Antonio’s case, the unstable nature of land use creates a lower opportunity cost for committing property crimes on vacant areas. A detailed map in the study showed how the north and northwestern areas of San Antonio with more housing turnover and housing construction consequently
This paper will be focusing on the courts as the specific sub-system in the criminal justice system. As said in the book the court system is responsible for charging criminal suspects, carrying out trials, and sentencing a person convicted of a crime. The fear of crime influences criminal justice policies in the court system. One way it does this is with the courts sentencing. Courts are able to give out severe punishments as a method of deterrence. This specific type of deterrence would be general deterrence. The book says that general deterrence theory should work if the punishment is clear, severe, and done swiftly. According to this theory, crime rate should drop because people will fear the punishment. The other way fear of crime influences
Statistics reveal that since 1960, crime rates have substantially increased from 1,620 per 100,000 persons to 4,593 per 100,000 persons in 1995.(1) This data illustrates the degeneration of society's "safety blanket." People no longer feel secure in the United States as they did in the past. They have become more vulnerable than ever to random acts of violence. Crime is ubiquitous and strikes at the heart of Americans when people least expect it, robbing them of their health, property, and loved ones. As a result, society has lost its confidence and assurance that the streets remain safe. Americans have become anxious about their safety knowing that "eight out of ten Americans are likely to be victims of crime in their lives."(2) Moreover, their belief and hope for a safer future has eroded.
Crime and fear of crime on campus are major concerns for college students, parents, administrators, and policymakers. Students must feel comfortable living on or at least walking on campus. College populations may be more at risk of sexual assault than the general population because they are in the age group that experiences the most rape generally and because they participate in many dating and social activities. In addition, substance use of all kinds is common among college students and it increases risk of victimization by reducing the aptitude to battle unwanted situations. Yet the majority of college students are not victimized. Fear of crime can stem from many things, either the population size, neighborhood you are in, age, gender, and even your ethnicity. There is much curiosity that is growing with wanting to understand the level of fear on campuses at Universities all around the world. Questions such as what constitutes this fear or how safe is the university are essential.
South Africa and its inhabitants have generally assimilated a defensive nature of living. High walls, electric fences and lurid headlines are all features of life that the population has become accustomed to. The crime statistics, however, still remain staggering and annual crime reports still manage produce waves of anxiety amongst the country’s inhabitants, as well as making the rest of the world fearful.
Again, this section will give a working definition of the “urban question’. To fully compare the political economy and ecological perspectives a description of the “urban question” allows the reader to better understand the divergent schools of thought. For Social Science scholars, from a variety of disciplines, the “urban question” asks how space and the urban or city are related (The City Reader, 2009). The perspective that guides the ecological and the social spatial-dialect schools of thought asks the “urban question” in separate distinct terminology. Respected scholars from the ecological mode of thinking, like Burgess, Wirth and others view society and space from the rationale that geographical scope determines society (The City Reader, 2009). The “urban question” that results from the ecological paradigm sees the relationship between the city (space) as influencing the behaviors of individuals or society in the city. On the other hand...
...ner-city areas (Carter and Davey Smith, 2008, p.172). The city as a built material form highlighted that bricks, mortar, houses and walls are thoroughly implicated in the shaping of the security of cities. The inner city is often subjected to strategies of different kinds of segregation and defence against individuals who are different from us and that this is prompted by a battle of individual insecurity (The Open University, 2013b)
Geography of fear and fear of crime in society today has been widely researched. In this essay fear of crime is used in the context of an individual’s perceived risk of becoming a victim of crime. This essay will explain Cater and Jones statement and discuss how media portrayal, environmental incivility in urban leading to loss of authority of space by local people and urban encroachment of rural areas shape the ‘geography of fear’. These factors at individual, neighbourhood and community level will be evaluated in ways so fear of crime can be reduced in urban and rural areas.
In today’s society there is a high fear of crime by society. Society actions show that there is anxiety and fear about crime. Therefore, anxiety and fear about crime has placid our cities and communities. Society express fear of being victimized by crimes, criminal activities, and behaviors. Therefore, according to, (Crime, 1999) states that “ the level of fear that a person holds depends on many factors, including but, not limited to: “ gender, age, any past experiences with crime that a person may have, where one lives, and one’s ethnicity.” All of those factors have a huge impact on one’s fear level.
The study of crime and fear of crime in the countryside has much to offer rural as well as criminological studies. For one thing, greater attention on these issues will complement an otherwise urban geography of crime and will fill important gaps in existing knowledge. In light of recent ‘moral panics’ over increases in rural crime, such work would be timely and could provide important information on the nature and extent of rural crime. Further, such knowledge could have an applied benefit and assist in the development of policing strategies in rural places. However, it is essential that rural crime be studied from a rural perspective. There is a danger otherwise that comparisons with urban areas will lead to a philosophy of ‘less of a problem means that there is no problem.’
There are many benefits to having law enforcement security cameras, which people take for granted, and are quick to point out the negative. Having a network of cameras on every street in the city increases the chances of preventing a crime, along with the ability to capture a criminal on video. Some people argue that the cameras generate an overwhelming amount...