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Potential for
change
Main
menu
Part
One
- identifying the greenstructure characteristics the users
require
Part
Two -
identifying landscape character zones
Part
Three-
identifying performance criteria for each type of
greenspace
The"
Doorstep" Greenspaces
The
Parks
Park
de Gagel
Park
de Watertoren
Park
de Vechtzoom
Shanghaipark
Safety
in Urban Greenspaces
The
Parkways
more
will be added later onthe following greenspace
issues:
Other District Sports
and Play Facilities
The greenspaces along
river de Vecht and links into the City
The Forts and the
Countryside - The
"Green-routes"
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SAFETY IN OVERVECHT PARKS and
OTHER GREENSPACES
Making Overvecht's Greenspaces
safer places
Experience elsewhere has
shown:
- The feeling that a
park is unsafe is as important to the community as actual
safety within a park. To make the parks safer the full
range of users must be involved in any redesign.
- The level of
diversity of possible experiences within any space and
the park as a total are important for attracting higher
intensity of use. Good designer cam deliberately include
a variety of form, colour and texture as well as of
landscape styles within one park so providing the
possibility of a wide range of things and scenes to keep
the visitor interested - nature luckily supplements this
by inducing the constant changes caused by the seasons of
the year. Diversity can also be increased by including in
the design settings which support differing activities.
All of these design solutions increase the level of park
usage and therefore the feelings of security - this in
turn attracts return visits and by keeping a park busy
ensures a higher level of perceived security than is
available when an area of land is rarely visited. A
present low of variety a spaces of their size found in
Parks de Gagel and Watertoren does not encourage repeat
visits except by dog walkers and youths out looking for a
place away from regular surveillance.
- A high level of and
regular maintenance is particularly important to how
people interpret any space within an urban area. Low-risk
areas have become associated with low levels of
vandalism, litter and graffiti.
- Legible designs
enhance safety- these are designs which allow users to
know where they are in space so that they feel confident
moving through each area of the park. Feelings of
insecurity increase when users don't have a clear
understanding of the layout of a park and its spaces.
This does not mean that to be legible the whole area has
to be open to view (that in fact deters visitors and
accentuates feelings of a lack of security as the space
is soon perceived as too boring to be worth visiting.
What legibility means is that the visitor can anticipate
who might use a space, can understand the choices
available for moving through it and what activities are
acceptable and does this subliminally by interpreting the
visual clues given by the way the space is laid out and
designed rather than from "do" and "do not"
notices.
- It is also important
to limit domination of any particular part of the site by
one user group - where this is not controlled visitors
feel threatened by the possibility of inappropriate
behaviour and so do not return so increasing the chance
of an area becoming perceived as unsafe. Where people use
parks in a positive way and in substantial numbers or
people feel more secure.
- Signs too are
important so that first time users can have a clear image
of what there is to visit - designed as maps they can
even be art forms in themselves and add interest and
landmarks to a park. In a housing area like Overvecht
where there is a sameness of visual experience almost
everywhere the introduction of more "landmark" objects is
very important and has repercussions beyond just
identifying a specific location - landmarks help a sense
of place develop. If people know where they are and where
they are going in general they feel a greater sense of
safety as they feel in greater control over their
immediate environment.
- Surveillance a very
important to safety - both formal and informal
surveillance. For instance vandalism is reduced if people
feel watched or can anticipate they are about to be
watched by other users, passers-by or from adjacent
housing or even by official park staff. The presence of
isolated areas increases the potential for vandalism and
crime.
- Improving lighting
enhances feelings of safety but as a design solution used
by itself has not been found to lower crime rates.
However, there is no doubt that the presence of light
helps people feel safer in or passing through a park at
night.
- Clear sightless can
enhance perceived and actual safety by allowing users to
see what is ahead and what is around them. Users like to
know that other people are visible it helps them feel
safe.
- The presence of
staff in a park has been seen many studies to be
important for park users - it help users feel good about
being in the place, safe in it and safe to bring their
family there.
A multidisciplinary
approach is needed in Overvecht to the redesign and
management of the park areas which will among other things
deal with the growing sense of lack of safety in these
extensive open spaces. The need is to increase perceived
safety. There is a need to dissuade park users from
inappropriate behaviour through the way the physical
environment is designed and managed, this relies on an
understanding of how the environment influences offenders -
the messages different environments can give to potential
trouble makers
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