%T Women's Fear of Crime at Bus Stops: The effects of building uses
%A Gréta Pethő
%L theses_frw4276
%D 2023
%X The fact that women’s accessibility to public transport is constrained by their fear of crime is widely established in academic literature. Yet, transport planning still inadequately addresses women’s mobility needs. Even though scholars argue that mixed land use eases fear of crime, the findings on ground-floor building uses are less consistent. These building uses can have positive impacts when they promote natural surveillance. Yet, they can also attract crime, which can induce fear in individuals. Thus, understanding the effects of ground floor building uses could enrich the knowledge of women’s fear of crime and mobility needs and aid the transition to more sustainable transport planning. This comparative research in Groningen, The Netherlands context, explores whether ground-floor building uses influence women’s fear of crime at bus stops during waiting times by assessing the social and physical environment surrounding the bus stops and surveying female bus users. Although there seems to be no direct relationship between building uses and women’s fear of crime, placing bus stops on streets with a vast density of bars and restaurants is discouraged, indirectly lowering the fear of crime through stimulating social incivilities.