Combining Surveys with App-Based Crowdsourcing to Capture Residents’ and Non-Residents’ Safety Perceptions

• In Event: Communities and Place: Crime and Fear of Crime: Exploring Emerging Methodologies

Abstract

When assessing people’s perceptions of safety, both “who” and “where” are questions that matter. In this presentation we share the current stage in our study of meso- to micro-level safety perceptions in the Stockholm city district of Järva, using both an intra-city and city-wide perspective. We present preliminary findings from two parts of a larger project: a photo-based mobile app collecting residents’ impressions of their neighbourhood street environments, as well as an online map-based survey of both residents and non-residents of Järva. Through a photo-based app, residents capture the visual, geographic and temporal information of their near-real-time safety perceptions of a given location. Through the survey, we investigate the places in Järva where both ‘locals’ and ‘outsiders’ feel safe or may avoid, their fear of crime and neighbourhood perceived safety, as well as their general perception of the city district and how to improve it. This study sheds light both on the significance of the socio-spatial context for safety perceptions, as well as how deep local knowledge versus temporary/rare experiences shape our perceptions of neighbourhoods.

Authors

• Jonatan Abraham, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

• Vania Ceccato, KTH Royal Institute of Technology