Fear of Crime in Urban Spaces: Recognizing the Impressive and Operative Locational Components for Security Increment Based on Theoretical Approaches

Fear of crime and victimization is a common issue in today’s urban life which hass. It is a real and powerful force that can shape citizens’ lives. A perceived risk of victimization can be attributed to the fear of crime. Fear of crime is a universal feeling which people possess in the society as the physical distance is virtually shortened by the advances of the transportation system as well as the interactions between people become stronger. The advances in technology potentially increase the likelihood of the occurrence of crimes. Consequently, the fear of crime will increase as the occurrence of crimes get more probable. Fear of crime has unpleasant consequences that can against criminal offenses. Loss of security, exposure to danger and fear of victimization can threaten proper and convenient use of public spaces and jeopardize the creation of dynamic successful urban places. As Jacobs (1961) states: “Deep and complicated social ills must lie behind
delinquency and crime, in suburbs and towns as well as in the great cities. if we are to maintain a city society that can diagnose and keep abreast of deeper social problems, the starting point must be to strengthen whatever workable forces for maintaining safety and civilization do exist . . . To build city districts that are custom made for easy crime is idiotic. Yet that is what we do”. Therefore, reducing crime and fear of crime frequently are more important when it comes to attributes of a good social place. This study has used the descriptive methodology to explore the environmental factors contributing to fear in urban spaces and their related indices and measures. The components and theories will be explained in order to identify fear inducing factors from the perspective of various theories. To this end, questionnaires, descriptive analysis, and Estimation Test were used for evaluating research questions for a sample of 50 urban designer and architecture experts. The neighborhoods were divided into two categories: secured and unsecured. The effects of each spatial component – as divided in three categories: structural, functional and perceptual - and their sub-indices and measures were measured. First, the concept of fear was studied and the theories underlying the foundation for the present study were introduced and then, effective components, indices, and measures were determined. The results were evaluated in SPSS 21. In this study, descriptive statistics were used to test the hypotheses stated out of research questions. Finally, the validity of each theoretical framework in Iranian cities was confirmed and then the interaction of components and their indices in each of the theoretical frameworks was determined. The results indicated the importance and the generalizability of some of the theoretical frameworks on fear in urban areas of Iran while confirmed their usefulness in guiding objectives, strategies and solutions for control, prevention, and mitigation of such a fear. According to the study, unbounded sub-cultural diversity can harm social shares and bonds. Social concerns about the deterioration of social relations and the decline of local networks are given lower priority in residential spaces. The Disorder Model did not affect the investigated areas and the physical disturbance of urban areas in Iran made it difficult to determine the impact of these factors in both safe and unsafe contexts which physically suffer from disorder. Vulnerability Theory is one of the best and most dominant theories for exploring the concept of fear in the urban areas of Iran. When we asked: “what is the worst thing about living where you live”, at the top of the list was the sense of being victimized. The study of social control theory indicated the need for monitoring done by neighbors and its positive effects. In contrast, lack of acceptance of formal control by police and law enforcement was observed. Regarding to the types of social relations in Iranian communities and the history of using such bonds, this outcome is not far-fetched. Also, the presence of strangers in local gravity points is important, particularly given the importance of such pints. The level of presence of strangers in the local contexts such as the neighborhood centers and main pathways is lower in secure neighborhoods where land use distribution is carried out in such a way that pushes most strangers to the edge of the neighborhood. The functional scale of uses in secure areas remains at local scale. Based on these findings, appropriate weights can be assigned to each of these theoretical frameworks and their place-oriented components, indicators and measures can be used to control fear-inducing factors in urban areas.