Safety and security in the urban environment

This is a multi-year project that seeks to investigate the dimensions of (in)security in the Gauteng City-Region (GCR) related to urban infrastructure, governance and socio-economic dynamics. The project aims to explore the complex dimensions of safety and security within the urban landscapes of the GCR. With a specific focus on the intersections between urban infrastructure, governance socio-economic dynamics and public safety, the project seeks to understand the underlying factors contributing to urban insecurity. A critical component of the study involves applying a gender lens to the analysis, ensuring that gendered experiences of safety and insecurity are central to the research.

Through a multidisciplinary approach, and the integration of diverse data sources and community perspectives, the project aims to address four key objectives:

1. Identify the hotspots of crime across the GCR using multi-data sources;
   
2. Understand the drivers that reinforce these hotspots;
   
3. Assess local perceptions of insecurity in these hotspots; and
   
4. Inform future urban planning and security governance.