Residential Neighborhood Crime Prevention in Nigeria: Need for a Paradigm Shift

Residents' Socio-Economic Characteristics and Types of Gated Communities as Significant Determinants of Neighbourhood Safety in Ibadan, Nigeria

“…This is reflected in the Pearson chi-square value of 9.62 and p-value of 0.142 as shown in Table 9, which is not statistically significant. This resonates findings from the earlier studies by Makinde (2014); Olajide et al (2018); Sun and Webster (2019); which stated that there are relationships between residents' socio-economic characteristics such as age, last of attack, types of gated communities, and the perception of safety in the study area.…”

“…Finding-wise, many studies had shown that neighbourhoods that score badly on the Safety Index also score badly on the Social Index (Arese, 2018;Gul et al, 2018;van Harten, 2012). Previous works also delineated that there is a link between the physical layout of a neighbourhood (squares, entrance halls, garages, alleyways, and the concentration of care facilities) and the safety in the neighbourhood (Alohan & Ogedengbe, 2018;Makinde, 2020a;Olajide et al, 2018). The quality of the housing (many cheap rented dwellings, quickly changing subletting, properties in which drug dealing takes place) and inadequate amenities in certain neighbourhoods also harm the safety and the quality of life.…”

“…The private initiatives arose as consequences of the failure of the state and its safety apparatus to protect the life and property of its citizens, especially in most developing countries. Urban residents redefine urban space as a mosaic of privately controlled territories with differently installed safety strategies (Olajide et al, 2018). The regrouping, realignment and redefinition of boundaries manifest in the socio-spatial restructuring of urban space.…”

“…The characteristics of people who live in a neighbourhood can be considered a factor in neighbourhood safety (Makinde, 2020a). Changes in the socio-economic characteristics of a neighbourhood might result in a change in the level of safety (Olajide et al, 2018). Specifically, the economic status of residents is likely to be particularly significant, since changes in income levels are likely to correlate with changes in many neighbourhood amenities, and more importantly with the level of safety in the neighbourhood (Weissbourd et al, 2009).…”

“…The act of separating neighbourhoods from each other with physical barriers may well confer these benefits upon the neighbourhood's residents but at the same time disassociates these individuals from the goings-on elsewhere in the community (Danielsen 2008). The rate at which gated communities have been erupting within our cities has been very alarming and this is due to an increase in crime and violence and the need for citizens to be housed in improved and better physical environments (Olajide et al, 2018). The explosive growth of gated communities over the last two and a half decades would predict that most Ibadan residents know at least one person who lives behind gates with over thirty residential zones having fifty-seven GCs in Ibadan metropolitan area (Makinde, 2014).…”