Unsafe Spaces The level of safety in a neighbourhood is a priority for many people who are deciding where to live or raise a family. A sense of safety can come from low crime rates in
the neighbourhood, other families nearby and the built design of public spaces
(Sayin et al., 2015). These external factors can influence whether or not an individual
feels safe. Internal factors of an individual
could include past trauma, state of mental health or preconceived notions of their
surroundings (Rivas, 2006). Ultimately,
there are many circumstances where an individual could experience fear or lack
of safety; urban designers can encourage
crime prevention through thoughtful design. This thesis will be examining unsafe urban public transit settings by looking at the experiences of women and men. Both
women and men can experience a fear of crime when using public transit, they just
experience it differently (Yavuz and Welch, 2010).
A woman’s physical surroundings can
influence her perceived level of safety.
Valentine (1990) created two categories
of public places where women often feel
unsafe. The first one is enclosed spaces
that have minimal opportunities to leave or exit; this category includes underground
parking facilities and subway stations. The
second is deserted open spaces, such as a lone bus shelter or parking lot (Valentine). In the first category, a predator could
attack knowing there is no opportunity for
the victim to escape. In the second one, a predator could harm someone and there would be no witnesses (Valentine).
Within these two categories, this thesis will be analyzing the perceived safety
experience of women at bus stops. Long
waiting times at a bus stop can influence the perception of safety and satisfaction of the journey (Abenoza et al., 2018).
Bus stops are where the majority of crime occurs compared to other locations along
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