The theme From Violence and Social Exclusion to Safer Cities was widely discussed during the workshop and this involved presentations made in plenary by individual participants and a panel of local authorities' officials. The theme has increasingly become crucial as it is observed that within the context of growing poverty of populations living in urban areas, cities are progressively suffering from social dysfunctions that are visible mainly in the areas of family, education, employment, culture and relationships between social groups.
In a similar vein, conflicts, incivilities, delinquency, or violence have been increasing, making cities unsafe and insecure rather than fulfilling their key role of providing vital elements for sustainable development of their inhabitants.
The theme of urban violence is as such carrying crucial challenges for
urban planners as it fits progressively into the nexus of urban development
and poverty. Indeed, insecurity and violence primarily concerns the poorest
sections as the more favored sections of the population tend to have access
to private security services.
1. Plenary Presentations
The link between violence and poverty was illustrated in the presentation made by Ms. Antoinette Louw. The author noted that given the multi-faceted nature of violence, social groups experience a feeling of insecurity which is manifested in different ways. The common ground between victims of urban violence is the level of vulnerability and social exclusion.
In order to illustrate this point, Ms. Louw uses recent victimization studies in South Africa. The result of these studies have shown that the poor - in particular those living in urban areas - are the most vulnerable to urban crime. Not only are they vulnerable to some categories of crime but also to the impacts of victimization. For instance, the impact of a bicycle robbery is more resented by an individual who does not possess any other means of transport than another individual victim of a hijacking of an insured luxury car who has other means of transport.
Furthermore, the poor are even more disadvantaged by their location whereby a lack of basic urban infrastructure and public utilities - which eventually contribute to the decrease in urban crime - are often lacking. In turn, the cost of the security measures restricts their ability to protect themselves.
As noted by Ms. Louw, if one also takes into consideration the fact that the capacities of the police forces are essentially concentrated in rich areas, the links between poverty and urban violence become clearer as well as the side-effects of these links in terms of an increase of the feeling of insecurity.
Another type of relationship between poverty and violence relates to the links between petty and organized crime. This theme was discussed by Mr. Michel Marcus who illustrated the necessity to consider the links between organized and petty crime and therefore the need to adopt an holistic approach which considers crime as a social disintegration which must be faced by any human development policy. Mr. Marcus noted that, in practice, the links between the two phenomena are rather close. First of all they have strong locational components (harbor cities and cities on borders are the most vulnerable) but most importantly, by the alliance between middle and poorer social sections of the population. In this alliance, petty delinquency serves as a breeding ground for larger criminal networks. The prison system constitutes one of the most important locations for recruiting potential offenders. On the other hand, the use of petty delinquents for "petty works" is one of the most frequent forms of the links between petty and organized crime.
This alliance, Mr. Marcus noted, can be explained by a level of deficiencies in the functioning of local institutions and economic systems. Among the most important deficiencies, is the problem of public services and the relations to laws which are unable to reflect the social links but are perceived as emerging from the most dominant sections of the population. The unequal access to public services constitutes another important phenomenon as well as the crisis in the criminal justice system which is faced with the great affluence of cases it has to solve.
This petty criminality and its breeding role for organized crime goes together with networks of underground economies which maintain and support entire neighborhoods. In these neighborhoods, the "standardization" of violence - family violence in particular - and the degradation of the social solidarity are two main characteristics. This situation leads to "reconquest" of the neighborhood which must definitely link up with a global policy of social human development. .
In summary, the two above-mentioned presentations have shown that a paradigm in considering urban violence is therefore indistinguishable from a paradigm which integrates human development of the individual and groups. Keeping close mutual interaction links between the socio-economic status of populations, an efficient urban violence prevention policy requires a global policy of social urban development which includes access to basic services such as education, health ...
In this context, city government or municipal authority play a leading role in any prevention strategy of violence.
2. Panel of Local Authorities
The panel of local authorities which was composed of city representatives and local institutions, highlighted the challenges that cities must face in their struggle against violence. All the presentations called for a broader recognition of social needs and the integration of these needs in any policy directed towards urban violence. Political violence, which is expressed through riots and clashes is indeed the expression of a malaise of a section of the population which is challenging the existing social order. Public entities have, in order to face this malaise, adopted a security-oriented approach which brings in more undesired side effects than resolves the problems themselves. Therefore, the solutions are likely to be found in the democratization of systems which facilitate public participation.
The second point highlighted by the speakers and which is in line with the idea of democratization, is the promotion of good governance in the management of public affairs for both States and local authorities. Decentralization is the keyword of good governance, which associates all city actors with public participation. In this context, the police also has to re-orient its activities by putting emphasis on community policing towards citizens. As expressed by Gen. Joseph Tanny, Secretary General of the Security Council of Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), the limited effects of repressive approaches, must today follow a security approach, centered on prevention and taking into account public needs. Community/ Policing is the most adequate form of policing which develops close links with citizens. In this scheme, the police officer is integrated into the urban setting and thus brings more feelings of security to the public by its presence, while being an agent of social regulation within a local coalition of key urban actors.
3. The Working Group
The following issues were discussed in depth during the Workshop:
The first discussion point that guided the reflections of the workshop concerned urban violence and its identification.
Urban violence is multi-faceted : it can be placed on a continuum going from incivilities to extreme expressions of violence such as civil wars, inter-ethnic conflicts. etc. Between these two poles are a succession of forms of violence such as:
Victimization studies show that there are four main categories of victims: children, women, the aged and social vulnerable groups. Regarding the "violence producer" population, studies have shown that 70 per cent of urban crimes are committed by the 15 to 34 age group. It is also that in the South and the North, there has been an increase in criminal activities. This means that there is a generation of youth that are disconnected from society as a whole. Thus there is a need for crime prevention. Interventions have shown that any efficient crime prevention action - in particular directed towards the youth - should be a global action which works on causes and are situated in a determined spatial context (city, neighborhood etc.), and in time. Case studies devoted to this theme (in particular, by Fernando Enciso on youth gangs in Mexico) have also highlighted an approach based on rehabilitation and legal redress for young offenders.
3.2 Women and urban violence
Interventions on the theme "Women and Violence" have focused on private and public spheres.
The interventions of Ms. Anne Michaud, Ms. Livi Bacci and Ms. C. Tascon and the debate have shown the necessity to link the various manifestations of violence against women, analyze the causes of social and economic inequalities and identify obstacles. In the first place, the difficulty in gathering data because of a low rate of confession/admission by women, the fear of retaliation or of impunities relating to offenders. There is a close relation between the feeling of insecurity experienced by women and their socio-economic status. In fact, the most poorest women fear to complain or ask for social services because they fear retaliation or lack awareness of existing assistance mechanisms. Also regarding women, the urban geography of poverty overlap the map of feeling of insecurity.
3.3 Partnerships and Cities
How do we ensure the efficiency of preventive strategies against urban violence ?
For the participants, the response underlines the need for an active partnership among all actors, coordinated by city government. The recognition of the role that each partner must fulfill is one of the keys to success for any prevention policy. For crime prevention, all local organizations which intervene at the neighborhood level or a specific area must be involved.
In Johannesburg for instance, the "Safer Cities" project is based on the coordination of local organizations and it encourages a multi-agency and multi-sectoral approach. In particular, the involvement of all municipal sectors was required, such as health, education, culture and sports departments.
The initial difficulties faced by the project have been overcome due to an active partnership between the social actors: NGOs, community-based organizations, religious organizations, organized labour unions, as well as the prison officers, the police, the justice system and the public sector. This sharing of expertise and local resources is a necessary component of such projects. The core component of this approach is centered around partnership and participation which favours a better approach to crime's prevention. The programme of Villa Maria in Argentina confirms this point of view. Indeed, the programme shows a successful partnership between public and private institutions, and local authorities.
What role must the police as an institution play in this partnership ?
Even if its role differs depending on the political and cultural contexts, the police should take into account public needs and work with other partners in an approach oriented towards the security of citizens. The models of community policing which exist in West Africa (the presentation by General Tanny), in Canada (the presentation by Mr. John Dalzell) or in Europe (the presentation by Captain Seniga for the Italian case study) are all examples of this development.
Community-based policing, problem-solving approaches and mediation are all examples which reflect the urban safety policies which will work within the urban context and get closer to the priorities of the citizens that they serve.
3.4 Discussions in the Working Group
Discussions among participants during the Workshop were mainly focused on two central themes, reflecting the governance and partnership perspective:
Discussions and exchanges among participants were also marked by the need for an exchange of expertise, networks, funds-raising techniques and methodological tools that can be adjusted, for application in other cities. Local security appraisals, victimization surveys, local experiences and consultation processes are illustrative of the need for exchanging and dissemination of experiences. This permits testing of the replicability of experiences as well as the evaluation of the impact of these crime prevention programmes at the local level.
Good governance and reliable networks were considered as basic instruments of the workshop on urban violence. A particular concern was placed on the accountability and the impact of policies on the lives of the excluded. Emphasis was put on the access to the decision-making and the strengthening of the social fabric of the poor communities. It is in this spirit that the members of the working group formulated recommendations for the Forum.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
Preamble :
The fight against urban violence and the creation of safer cities set within the larger context of democratic participation that guarantees human rights.
General :
It is recommended that urban violence and crime prevention be one of the key issues that the International Forum on Urban Poverty addresses. This question should be examined from the following perspectives:
It is recommended that the following needs be identified as priorities in support of action at the local level:
It is recommended that the International Forum on Urban Poverty undertake the following activities in the field of urban safety and crime prevention in the next two years :