Determination of security aspects - methods for urban planners

Aspect determination methods for urban planners

Introduction

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Methods to determine risk aspects of the public security culture

Method	Description	Security/legal/ethics aspects in planning of public spaces	How does the method determine security/legal/ethics aspects in planning of public spaces?
Activating opinion survey	In an activating opinion survey residents are asked about their views and attitudes; at the same time they are encouraged to stand up for their interests and to take part in developing solutions for their surroundings. Process: Key individuals and residents are interviewed, material is evaluated and observations are made. Residents are informed in writing about the actual survey in advance; trained interviewers use an interview skeleton with open questions to do one-to-one interviews. In contrast to most conventional surveys, an activating opinion survey is not a one-off event, but the kick-off to a fairly long-term process; so it involves a good deal of organization in advance and subsequent work.	The aim is to identify the residents’ fears, wishes and worries; at the same time they are asked what solutions occur to them, and how interested they would be in taking part in implementing the ideas in question. Suitable for finding out the interests and needs of people living in a particular area	The survey is evaluated and the results presented to the residents, with the aim of defining steps toward realization. Interest or action groups are formed with a view to this.
Safety Audit	The safety audit is a leading tool originally designed by the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC) in Toronto for women to use in order to build their skills and make their communities feel safer. Process: Usually, a women’s safety audit starts with a group of women, and possibly other community members, who meet and discuss spaces in their community that feel unsafe. Safety audit groups generally work best when members are diverse and therefore represent a variety of safety concerns (i.e. younger and older women, disabled women, women from different ethnic backgrounds). Unsafe spaces might include a shopping centre parking lot, a pathway between residences, a water source, or a public housing development. After the safety audit group has chosen an unsafe space, they go together to that space and note the factors or characteristics that they think make it unsafe (usually with the help of a premade checklist). Once a safety audit has been completed, the group makes a series of recommendations to their local government and other community members to try and improve the space.	Factors or characteristics that make a space feel unsafe might include poor lighting, negative graffiti messages, or an isolated location. View checklist: http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/262-ask-questions-about-womens-safety-in-the-city.html	Safety audits encourage local and context-specific solutions to issues of insecurity and promote partnerships and joint solutions between women and their local governments. Women’s safety audits are now said to be an internationally recognized practice that can equip women and communities to identify what corrective measures are needed to improve personal safety in urban settings.
Focus Group	Process: In a focus group 8 to 15 persons take part in a chaired discussion on a predetermined topic; this can lead to a cohesive “group view” developing.	Suitable: for identifying motives for a particular type of behavior and revealing areas of difficulty; for obtaining information and ideas with which to handle a particular issue in the process of planning urban spaces.	In a focus group a specific issue is discussed in a goal-directed way, while group-dynamic processes are encouraged: differing perceptions collide, one has to justify one’s point of view; spontaneous emotional reactions are common.
Planning for Real	Planning for Real is a community-oriented planning procedure designed to activate people (the idea is “It’s our place – let’s take matters into our own hands”). Process: The aim is to lessen difficulties in communicating between individuals affected in different ways, to bring out latent potential, resources and deficits, and to create an atmosphere of cooperative action among neighbors, experts and local interest groups.	The method is used: for encouraging ordinary citizens to get involved in structuring their surroundings or their workplace; for minimizing obstacles to communication; for tapping existing local resources; identify and solve risk aspect through common planning.	The process consists of a number of steps, each with differing opportunities for communication and participation: initiative, model, presentation, ”Who can do what?”, pooling suggestions, setting up working groups, priorities and scheduling, plan of campaign.
	Methods of local open dialogue:
Citizens exhibition	The so called citizens exhibition is a method that uses linguistic and visual mediators (photos and interview excerpts) to create a discussion platform for the citizens affected by the urban planning process. Duration approx. 1 year.	Risk communication, perception evaluation and assessment	The method is used in medium to long term urban development and spatial planning processes.
Experts forum	Experts forums or working groups with representatives of different urban planning teams (management, consulting, architects etc.)	Risk communication, perception evaluation and assessment	The aim of this method is to develop typical project outlines.
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