Uploaded on 2017-06-05 by Eleftheria Tsakiri

Compulsory Exercise 6 Think and comment on the following example: Habitats of a certain neighborhood don’t feel safe when they walk in their neighborhood in the evening and during the night. You are working for the local government and want to solve this problem through improvement of the public spaces. How would you start-up a Citizen Design Science project? Parks, plazas all public spaces should be more related to nearby houses and surrounding public buildings. Every spot of a public space should be visible by people living in the surrounding area or by passers-by so that no crime or unwanted action can take place unseen. Citizens should be informed to be aware of the problems that can appear in these public spaces and encouraged to report any problems or suspicious activity. Governments should also make the citizens aware of all the spots and all the public spaces that are in their neighborhood, make them accustomed to them and make them feel like these public spaces are something they should take more personal and consider as their responsibility to keep them safe and look after them. Moreover spaces should be more open and there should not be any desolated or concealed areas. Narrow or channeling passages must be avoided as well as paths obscured by trees, paths that people cannot get out of easily or entrapping spots. All paths should be well lit and appropriate for use after dark but without too bright/ blinding lights that can actually make blur the vision and obscure elements. Police officers should patrol in less populated areas and park staff or guards should be in public parks during the night as well as during the day so that people can ask for help if any problem occurs. Another solution could be the placement of public telephones in visible spots to use to call assistance if needed. Citizens who live nearby should also be alert and maybe even organize their own "patrol" groups and watch the parks themselves in turns and after taking the proper training and in cooperation with local authorities. Paths should lead to focal points after a short time and visitors should be able to navigate easily and never get lost within a park. All entrances and exits of a park should be clearly visible and known by the visitors with the help of signs or lighting. The design of closed parks should change to a more open plaza design to encourage more public uses such as festivals or community events or even encourage shops, cafes, restaurants to open there if the space is big enough as well as sport/playing fields and sitting places to be built. All those places should be welcoming and appealing to people available for safe use after dark with proper lighting and visibility of the surrounding area. One more idea is to connect public transport to big public spaces. For example, make taxi, bus or tram stops in the perimeter of parks with visibility inside the parks so that people can easily have access to the parks and also that there is movement in the perimeter of the park and there are constantly people surrounding it. Parks and all public spaces should also be clean and looked after to create a welcoming atmosphere for citizens and be popular meeting spots. Different plants and trees should be used to create a nice visual and, along with different facilities, make the public spaces interesting to visit all year round. . Citizens could help inform the authorities whether the vegetation or facilities they put in those spaces are appropriate , whether they are working or not and they should also be encouraged to make their own propositions on the subject as they most probably are more accustomed to said area and its needs.