Effectiveness of Fear and Crime Prevention Strategy for Sustainability of Safe City

Seng Boon Lim, Chee Kong Yong, Jalaluddin Abdul Malek, Mohd Fuad Mat Jali, Abd Hair Awang and Zurinah Tahir
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Seng Boon Lim: Social Environmental and Developmental Sustainability Center (SEEDS), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Chee Kong Yong: Federal Government Administration Center, PLANMalaysia (Federal Department of Town and Country Planning), Corporate Division, Ministry of Housing and Local Government, 2nd Floor, Block F5, Complex F, Precinct 1, Putrajaya 62675, Malaysia
Jalaluddin Abdul Malek: Social Environmental and Developmental Sustainability Center (SEEDS), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Mohd Fuad Mat Jali: Social Environmental and Developmental Sustainability Center (SEEDS), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Abd Hair Awang: Social Environmental and Developmental Sustainability Center (SEEDS), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Zurinah Tahir: Social Environmental and Developmental Sustainability Center (SEEDS), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-24

Abstract: Crime is a manifestation of incivility that society attempts to curb, yet faces enormous challenges, as crime is a by-product of urbanization and human advancement. As more agglomeration of the population in cities around the globe, humankind’s safety from being threatened by crime needed to be safeguard to sustain everyday living in cities. Humans’ co-existence with crime and fear of crime in cities vis-a-vis efforts preventing it from occurring has been widely carried out in developed countries. An increasing trend is showing in emerging and developing countries. Therefore, this article provides empirical evidence regarding a safe city program launched in Malaysia. This study aims to identify the factors contributing to the prevention of crime and fear of crime. This study employed a survey questionnaire to 400 pedestrians’ perceptions of Kuala Lumpur city’s central business district. The result showed that prevention methods through the actor of “capable guardians” (i.e., authorities) are effective; however, methods through the actor of “suitable victims” (i.e., communities) is ineffective. Further studies should explore perspective of the actor of “likely offenders” (i.e., criminals) to fill in the gap of safe city program’s effectiveness and sustainability.

Keywords: broken windows theory; crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED); crime prevention methods through social development (CPSD); criminology; delinquency; routine activities theory; safe cities; safe streets; urban studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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