Environmental Design Interventions on Crime Prevention: Perceived Safety in Urban Residential Developments in Awka, Nigeria

Abstract

The study evaluates the perceptions of residents on the effectiveness of the environmental design interventions for crime prevention in urban residential developments in Awka, Nigeria. This paper explores the relationship between physical and social characteristics of residential environments and perceived safety of residents. The study design was a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to adult residents in selected urban residential neighbourhoods in Awka. A total of 345 valid answers were obtained and analysed out of 400 questionnaires distributed. Residents’ assessments of environmental design interventions and their relationship with perceived safety were examined using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression. In addition, open-ended responses were analysed to give contextual meaning to the quantitative findings. Residents generally linked improvements in environmental conditions with greater perceptions of safety. Street lighting and natural surveillance were rated particularly highly. Street lighting had a strong correlation with perceived safety (r = 0.742, p < 0.001) and natural surveillance had a strong positive relationship with perceived safety (r = 0.697, p = 0.001). There was a negative correlation between fear of crime and environmental maintenance (r = −0.631, p = 0.002). The regression model accounted for 65.9 per cent of the variance in perceived safety. Street lighting was the strongest predictor (β = 0.421) followed by natural surveillance (β = 0.318).