Place Management

Community Councils in Scotland were created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act of 1973 as the most local statutory tier of local government in Scotland, and intended as a bridge between local communities and local authorities. The legislation which founded community councils remains unaltered today despite major changes in the structure of local government in the intervening years, which has seen the removal of regional and district councils and the creation of 32 unitary local authorities in their place.

So the UK Prime Minister has declared he is ‘on the side of the motorist’ in the aftermath of a parliamentary byelection in which the imposition of an extended ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) was a major issue.  Other attempts at controlling traffic movement in towns and cities in the UK through measures such as low traffic zones (LTZs) or controlled parking zones (CPZs) are also meeting opposition, and are being postponed (as in Oxford, Bristol and elsewhere) or abandoned. All this, when the social, environmental and health benefits of lower traffic seem clear, and popular support for environmental action remains firm.

Safety is a vital ingredient of a successful place, yet stories in the media of violence and harassment in city streets and other ‘third places’ are everywhere. How should towns and cities respond? In this piece I want first to explore the idea of a safe place a little and outline broad perspectives which commonly underpin responses to promote place safety. Second, I set out some measures which are commonly taken relating to each perspective, and then third I will try to relate the implications of all this for the lived experience of cities and neighborhoods.