Urban Social Stress

IB Geography II

Essential Question

• Are you entitled to live in a safe community? – What does “safety” include?– Is every person entitled to live in a safe

community?– Who decides?

Introduction

• Rapid Urbanization (especially in developing countries) overwhelms the ability of cities to provide adequate services such as: – Housing– Sanitation– Drinking water– Education– Employment

Rising Inequalities • Increasing inequalities makes these

problems worse leading to urban stress including problems with: – Noise– Pollution – Overcrowded living conditions– Fear of crime

Housing • Providing enough quality housing is a huge

challenge for urban cities. There are at least 4 aspects of the management of housing: – Quality of housing: water, sanitation,

electricity, space– Quantity of housing: having enough units to

meet demand– Availability and Affordability of housing – Housing Tenure: ownership or rental

Inequalities and Social Problems

• Examples of the many social problems found in cities include: – Lack of access to services for underclass– Problems related to crime – Ethnic and religious divisions causing social

and economic polarization.

– Economic Polarization: The widening gap between the rich and the poor

Issues of Urban Crime Types of Criminals/Crime

Main Actors Impacts/Outcomes

Individual Criminals One-off acts of violent crime and delinquency, usually economically motivated

Murder, assault, gender-based violence, robbery and theft

Organized Criminals

Drug cartels, human trafficking networks, arms smugglers, state security forces (intelligence) and police officers

Targeted killings, kidnaps, extortion, human trafficking and enslavement small arms proliferation

Endemic Community Violence

Urban gangs, vigilante groups, ethnic militias, state security forces and police officers

High rates of gang/police/civilian causalities, recruitment of urban child soldiers, gender-based violence, gang warfare police shootouts

The Causes of Urban Violence and Crime

• Inequality

• Unemployment

• Limited Police Presence

• Opportunity

• Poor Urban Planning

• Globalization and Communications Technology

Inequality • The growing gap

between rich and poor is far more likely to lead to crimes than poverty itself.

• Unequal access to employment, education, health and basic infrastructure is the underlying cause of crime.

Unemployment • Most research

suggests that unemployed youth aged 15-24 are disproportionately more likely to be perpetrators as well as victims of crime and violence

Limited Police Presence

• The speed of urbanization increases pressure on the ability of authorities to meet public security and safety demands though adequate policing.

• Large cities have lower levels of community cooperation with the police and require more police officers per inhabitant

Opportunity • Crime rates are higher in

large cities because there is a greater concentration of wealthy potential victims, more opportunities to commit crime, and a more developed second-hand market for stolen goods.

• Criminal networks can be persuasive and influential towards certain disadvantaged groups, luring them into criminal gangs.

Poor Urban Planning

• The design of urban environments may affect the security of citizens

• For example, if streets have unlit or hidden areas and layouts with more escape routes, or streets police cars can’t get down, crime is more common.

Globalization and Communications Technology

• Ease of communication through mobile phones and other devices add to the efficiency of organized crime.

The Consequences of Urban Crime

• Can generate a culture of fear • Can lead to segregation and social

fragmentation • Can lead to the creation of fortified spaces• Can negatively impact economic development • The Latin American region has the highest

homicide rate in the world, and widespread fear and insecurity are a fact of daily life.

Gated Communities• While violence does occur, anxiety and fear

generated by the perception of crime and violence outweighs the actual level of danger.

• Mexico City: Fear of crime leads people to restrict their movements and avoid leaving home at night.

• Gated Communities are found most in places with high inequality and inadequate public security.

Gated Communities

• Most found in North American cities• New phenomenon in Brazil and South

Africa where there are increased socio-economic inequalities.

• South Africa: # of private security guards has increased by 150% since the late 1990s.

• Often results in segregation across ethnic, racial and religious lines

Gated Communities Discussion

• Based on your reading, do you think gated communities are appropriate responses to high crime?

• How do gated communities violate freedom of movement?

• What role does the media have in developing gated communities?– Should they be restricted?