The impact of Urban Design in minimizing women's fear of crime

Crime is a condition that infringes on an individual's right to live in a tranquil and secure environment. Each year, the rate of crime is increasing in tandem with technical advancement and urbanization. On the other hand, fear is characterized as anxiety or worries about being harmed or victimized. One crucial outcome of rising crime rates is a psychological phobia, which breeds fear of crime. In society, those who are already weak on the socio-economic and psychological fronts may lack the means to defend themselves from high-crime areas and will be plagued by their fear of crime. Areas like low-density public spaces, curving trails with poor lighting, urban forest with unclear vision lines, destitute and abandoned structures with minimal human traffic are more prevalent in crime activities. Thefts, robbery, sexual assault, and molestation are among the more prevalent crimes in India, in which the majority of incidents take place in metropolitan areas. This paper discusses how a conurbation design can help women feel safe and comfortable using a space in an urban setting without the fear of victimization, thus reducing deleterious activities in Indian context. The concepts of SCP, CPTED, can minimize the opportunities for crime and fear of crime. The methodology consists of a questionnaire given to around 320 women in urban settings in India who experience a fear of crime while using public spaces. The result of this paper indicates that a destitute urban setting instigates offenders to engage in malevolent activities, thus perniciously increasing the fear of crime. Contrary to this, secured cities with cohesive communities and mixed land use with bustling activities throughout the day can lessen the opportunities for crime and could create defensible spaces.