Utilizing an online tool that compares images from Google Street View, researchers have built a better understanding of the 'small, often imperceptible reasons' that make some streets and places feel safer than others.
In an effort to better understand perceptions of urban safety, researchers Phile Salesses, Katja Schechtner and César A. Hidalgo built an online tool that asks users to compare images from Boston, New York, and the Austrian cities of Salzburg and Linz. In a paper recently published in PLOS ONE, the authors discuss some of the patterns they've observed.
"We found images with trash in it, and took the trash out, and we noticed a 30 percent increase in perception of safety," Salesses says. "It's surprising that something that easy had that large an effect."
"This also means some fairly cost-effective government interventions – collecting trash – could have a significant impact on how safe people feel in a neighborhood," adds Emily Badger. "Ideally, in the future, [Salesses] envisions officials using a tool like this to do cost-benefit analyses of removing trash or planting new trees: Where should cities spend scarce resources to produce the greatest improvements in how people perceive a place?"
FULL STORY: The Small, Often Imperceptible Reasons Some Neighborhoods Feel Safer Than Others
Census Releases New Interactive Dashboard to Identify Underserved Communities
The new "My Community Explorer" interactive dashboard is intended to help drive data-based solutions to inequality in and between communities.
19 of 1,036 Majority-Black ZIP Codes Are 'Prosperous,' Report Says
The Economic Innovation Group has released its 2020 Distressed Communities Index.
The Legacy of Structural Poverty in Alabama
In rural Alabama, a long history of racial inequality and poverty has left people struggling to survive in uninhabitable housing.
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.
New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.
Study: Most of Vancouver Is a ‘15-Minute City’
A large majority of Vancouver residents can access a grocery store in 15 minutes or less by bicycle or on foot.
Urban Design, Transport, and Health
The Lancet medical journal published a series of articles that explore how to evaluate and guide urban planning decisions to create healthy and sustainable cities. Live long and prosper!
Detroit Bike Share Celebrates Five Years
In its five years of operation, Detroit’s MoGo bikeshare has added electric and adaptive bikes to its fleet of more than 600 bikes.
Urban Planning Partners
Sandy City
Ada County Highway District
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Redwood City
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
