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Bordered communities: the perception of insecurity in five European cities

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Abstract

The article explores the results of a recent European empirical study within the project Margin: tackling insecurity in marginalized areas, funded with the Horizon 2020 Programme, on the perception of insecurity in five European cities (Barcelona, Budapest, London, Milan, and Paris). The results of the fieldwork (ethnographic observation, focus groups and interviews) in the five cities show how social cohesion and socio-economic inequalities are the main factors in the production of the feeling of insecurity in the urban space. According to these major results, metropolitan neighborhoods reveal new and growing invisible borders, segregate vulnerable groups and create gated communities in wider contexts.

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Notes

  1. The Margin project (*A. No. 653005: May 2015–April 2017) is funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme. The Margin project’s aim is to coordinate and support public intervention in the field of (in)security by providing policy makers with high quality tools for creating and evaluating strategies targeted at the reduction of insecurity among different demographic groups. The project involved seven partners: Universitat de Barcelona (Spain), University College of London (UK), Università degli studi di Milano - Bicocca (Italy), Eurocrime S.R.L. (Italy), Orszagos Kriminològiai Intézet (Hungary), Observatorie national de la dèlinquance et des réponses pénales (France), Departmnet d’Interior de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain).

  2. The taxonomy of neighborhoods was updated in each national scenario. In particular, in Barcelona objective insecurity was measured using the level of offences against a person’s physical integrity; in Budapest smaller areas within the selected district have been identified; in London burglary rates, educational attainment of the resident and the index of multiple deprivation; in Paris burglary rates, educational attainment of the residents and the poverty rate. In order to identify smaller areas within arrondissement, the French teal identify the sub-city level taking in account the housing, business, large areas with few inhabitants. In Milan the data on crime rates at the neighborhood level were missing. Some different demographic and socio-economic variables have proven good predictors of high levels of perceived insecurity.

  3. Source: http://www.bcn.cat/estadistica/catala/index.htm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italia

    Sonia Stefanizzi & Valeria Verdolini

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  1. Sonia Stefanizzi
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  2. Valeria Verdolini
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Correspondence to Sonia Stefanizzi.

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Stefanizzi, S., Verdolini, V. Bordered communities: the perception of insecurity in five European cities. Qual Quant 53, 1165–1186 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-018-0810-x

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