Perceived safety of the retrofit neighborhood: A location-based approach

Urban infill includes a potential to change the track of development of existing, distressed neighborhoods. The investments to a neighborhood as a whole can at best contribute to an increase in residential satisfaction, including perceived safety. Using a location-based public participation geographic information system approach, this study offers insights on how to avoid too simplistic or deterministic thinking in safety planning through a case study of a neighborhood representing urban retrofit in Espoo, Finland. This article concludes that more comprehensive safety strategies are most likely to succeed in breaking the negative development of fear and a spiral of neighborhood decay especially in retrofit neighborhoods.