Perception of security risk in gated and non-gated communities in Lahore, Pakistan
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Perception of security risk in gated and non‑gated communities in Lahore, Pakistan Humna Bint‑e‑Waheed1 · Obaidullah Nadeem1 Received: 19 December 2018 / Accepted: 13 November 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract This paper investigates the perception of security risk and causes of crimes in gated and non-gated communities in Lahore, Pakistan. Due to increasing rate of crimes in the city, the trend and demand of gated communities are rising. People living in non-gated communities have installed barriers and gates in through streets to prevent crimes. The data was collected by conducting face to face interviews with the residents of a gated and nongated community in Lahore, concerned officials of police stations and Lahore Development Authority using structured questionnaires. Results of data analysis revealed that the residents with high-income experience fewer crimes than the residents with low/middle income, since they are more vulnerable to crimes. The perception of insecurity among the residents is directly proportional to the frequency of crimes in that community. Moreover, residents of gated community are more satisfied with the safety and security measures. Several through streets in each block of non-gated community are facilitating crimes. This shows that the layout plan of residential community also plays an important role in facilitating/reducing the crime. The number of reported crimes in the non-gated community is 25 times higher than the reported crimes in the gated community. Un-registered tenants are also found to be indulged in criminal activities in such communities. Recommendations are made to transform both types of communities and plan future neighbourhoods as more safer places for living. Keywords Security risk · Fear of crime · Gated communities · Non-gated communities · Housing schemes · Lahore
* Humna Bint‑e‑Waheed [email protected] Obaidullah Nadeem [email protected] 1
Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
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H. Bint‑e‑Waheed, O. Nadeem
1 Introduction The perception of safety and security from criminal threat is an important precondition for achieving good quality of life. Abraham H. Maslow, a psychologist, thought that the people desire to achieve their certain needs ranging from basic survival to self-fulfilment, however, they may not achieve their higher needs unless the basic ones are fulfilled (Kim 2006). In this context, Maslow introduced a five-stage hierarchy including: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization (McLeod 2018). Although safety appears to be a second level need, it is strongly liked with the frequency of the crimes in someone’s surroundings, especially the living environment. Crime is a societal dilemma which demands special attention. A wide range of emotional and practical responses by individuals and communities to crime is called fear of crime (Marzbali et al. 2016). It turned into a major issue of communi
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