What do women want in a safe city?

If you want details, a pair of female authors from Toronto (reportedly the safest city in North America?) wrote Safe Cities: Guidelines for Planning, Design and Management. Here are some of their recommendations for safe cities, which are essentially ‘eyes on the street’ fundamentals:

– Retail street frontages (encourages street life);
– Restaurants/venues that stay open late;
– Outdoor seating; street entertainers and vendors;
– People-attracting food services;
– Mixed-income housing (creating a diversity of residents who frequent the streets at a diversity of hours);
– Pedestrian-friendly streets;
– Late-night transit hours;
– Housing above stores (built-in neighborhood watch);
– Upper-story windows and balconies overlooking the street;
– Street-front buildings built up to a continuous setback line to eliminate ‘hiding places’ and blindspots.

It’s also important to concentrate activity on the main pedestrian traffic corridors, just like the North End in Boston.

About The Author

neilkt