Breakdown in community security systems

Physical, economic, political and cultural security is perceived as dependent upon the individual's ability to provide it. This self-centredness, while an effective refuge in the midst of changing times, is yet a very weak basis on which to build social cooperation. Public participation in community projects is substantially reduced, giving the neighbourhood a false image of apathy, while various self-interests within the community feed on the fear of the residents. Without steps to control violent activity in the streets, and to promote a sense of neighbourhood trust and self-reliance, urban communities cannot experience the neighbourhood as a human space for living.

Some problems indigenous to large inner-city neighbourhoods are: a high incidence of drug traffic and addiction resulting in theft; parents and children afraid to use play areas where violent and asocial behaviour occurs; high costs of security measures for business and industry causing some businesses to move and preventing new ones from coming in; stores remaining virtually unstocked because of continual theft; and hazards particularly for children in the traffic patterns of trucks from large industries, unchecked by traffic control signs or the enforcement of local ordinances.