Differences between users of six public parks in Barcelona depending on the level of perceived safety in the neighborhood

Abstract

Research on the relation between fear of crime and public space has been often limited to psychosocial processes (place attachment, social cohesion, collective efficacy) and the effect of environmental variables (brightness, graffitis, cleaness). Most of the behavioral aspects involved, however, have been neglected. In this work we carried out a systematic observational study of the types of users (gender, age, ethnicity, signs of poverty) of six public parks in Barcelona. We examined whether there would be differences between users of three parks in the neighbourhood with the highest level of fear of crime and the users of three public parks in the neighbourhoods with the highest levels of perceived safety. The analysis showed significant differences in the spatial occupancy patterns between the two neighbourhoods. The differences highlighted processes of avoidance of public space by women, children and the elderly, and processes of spatial segregation depending on ethnicity and the presence of signs of poverty.