Revisiting fear and place: women's fear of attack and the built environment

Abstract

The effort to `design out fear' through altering built environments has been popular amongst academics and planners. Success is limited, as simplistic notions of the fear of crime – its experience by individuals and its constitution as a social reality – tend to be employed. This paper examines the relationship between the built environment and women's fear of crime, based on qualitative studies in two European cities. While particular environments are often identified when women talk about the threat of attack, this reflects much broader processes operating to create fear. Fear influences our experience of places, as much as places influence our experiences of fear.