The Perception and Awareness of Safety in a Public Park: Crime Prevention through Environmental Design

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Personal safety in the public parks has been an important factor that needs to be considered by park users, park managers and designers. Parks which were traditionally been a refugee and sanctuary for the citizens has been perceived to be unsafe by some segments of the population. A survey was conducted at Taman Tasik Perdana and Taman Tasik Permaisuri Kuala Lumpur to study the perception of safety among park users. The survey found that having simple access and movement within the park will help to improve the perception of safety and comfort of the area compared to more complicated access. The perception of safety is determined by having unobstructed, well-defined and logical routes within the park circulation. The effect of clear visual accessibility within the park improves and enhances the perception of safety among the park users. Accessibility is determined by open areas where one can see and be seen by other people in the park. Other factors include tall trees with long sightlines, fewer shrubs that can block the views, well maintained and regular pruning of plants, and the presence of park workers with uniforms in the park will ensure their safety . The implication of these findings will help to provide guidelines for park designers and managers to be proactive in ensuring safety to park users.

Stream: Aesthetics, Design , Ethnicity, Difference, Identity , Science, Environment and the Humanities

Paper: Perception and Awareness of Safety in a Public Park, The

An academia in landscape architecture reside in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Teaching in a 25 years old university consists of 100 international nations. Currently, involves in self sustained development for disabled in local village, using herbs as therapy and economic return. Also, is on an on-going research about colonial landscape archeology back home in Malaysia. A research member too with Kyoto University under JSPS undergoing a research about Mangrove. Currently, active in research on school design and security with International researchers such as from France, Australia, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. This research is headed by Sugiyama Jogakuen University in Nagoya, Japan.

Ph.D in Park & Recreational Planning
Michigan USA