The Impact of Urban Greenery on Safety in Public Space
Abstract: Urban space – the physical space of streets, squares and other public spaces is where neighbourhood life takes its place. It is constantly confronted with contemporary requirements for new functions and new ways of use – moreover, new forms of public spaces are created; traditional places are transformed and gradually adapted to the needs of its new users. With the increasing need to adapt the urbanized environment to climate change, there is a large increase in green areas in the city. Greenery, which is currently perceived as a positive element of a residence, was historically often considered an unsafe element. Even today, the safety of certain types and forms of greenery is often debated, which increases the need to study the relationship between greenery and safety – real and perceived. In its introduction, the contribution briefly describes how the safety of urban greenery has been perceived throughout history. Subsequently, it focuses on the research of various theories on safety of the physical environment and tries to apply them to issues of residential greenery. The aim of the work is to analyze the elements of greenery and their parameters, which significantly influence the safety of the public space, on a model example of a selected city in northern Bohemia. The main method used is my own scientific and research activity - for the most part, it was field observation; empirical investigation and documentation of the most common forms of greenery in the city; data collection and their subsequent analysis and evaluation; and a comparison with similar examples from other cities. Based on this research, the most common forms of greenery and potential signs indicating their safety/danger were identified. It is indicated how the identification and classification of these signs can be used to evaluate the quality of the public space from the safety point of view. The output of the contribution is a table of evaluated safety indicators of public spaces - specifically, the part focused on residential greenery. The contribution is part of a broader work, the goal of which is to create a procedure that could help to create a table of evaluated safety indicators based on a comprehensive analysis of the public space. These could then be used to create a methodical procedure and quantify the evaluation of the level of safety of the public space. The resulting work could be used primarily by city authorities or for planning future development, but also for the revitalization and reintegration of existing inappropriately functioning and dangerous public spaces back into urban life.
