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Fear of street crime among Japanese mothers with elementary school children: A questionnaire survey using street montage photographs

Fear of street crime among Japanese mothers with elementary school children: A questionnaire... JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING https://doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2023.2228931 URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN Fear of street crime among Japanese mothers with elementary school children: A questionnaire survey using street montage photographs a b b b c Yilin Huang , Kimihiro Hino , Yasushi Asami , Hiroyuki Usui and Miku Nakajima ICT Engineering Department, Plant Engineering Division, Solution Operations, Energy Headquarters, Nippon Koei Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan; b c Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan; Applied Computer Science, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo, Japan ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 15 April 2023 Since physical crimes committed on the street against children typically occur during school Accepted 19 June 2023 commutes, there is an urgent need to address Japanese mothers’ fear of such crimes. Although previous studies have proven that several street elements affect parents’ fear of crime, these KEYWORDS elements have been evaluated individually, and there is little analysis of fear of crime using CPTED; street montage; fear computer graphics (CG) to visualize the scenes. In this study, 96 street montage photos were of crime; interaction effect; processed using a systematic mechanism based on the theory of Crime Prevention Through ordinal logistic regression Environmental Design (CPTED) to visualize the variation in factors assuming interaction effects. The results indicate that the presence of signs on windows, obtuse angles of corner lots, commercial building usage, and tables and chairs on the ground floor may moderate mothers’ fear of physical crimes against their children in certain scenes. Moreover, several interaction effects that promoted or moderated the main effects of other factors were observed. These findings suggest that, to reduce mothers’ fear of crime, the identified factors should be considered together, rather than separately\. 1. Introduction Over the past two decades, several studies based on According to the Japanese Police White Paper the theory of CPTED have shown that the physical (National Police Agency 2019), there has been an extre- space elements on school roads are related to elemen- mely slow decline in the number of physical crimes tary school children’s safety. According to Matsunaga, committed on the street against children under the Miyazaki, and Sumi (2009), while vacant land and the age of 13 over the past few years. These crimes typi- absence of windows on school roads, building cally occur in school commutes, from 7:00 am to 8:00 entrances, and exits are associated with a higher am and from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Thus, school roads crime rate against children, the presence of stores play an essential role in maintaining the safety of contributes to a lower crime rate. Ago, Matsunaga, children. Furthermore, compared to the United and Sumi (2010) concluded that limiting the number Kingdom and other countries, Japanese elementary of windows below the 2nd floor as well as walls over school children generally travel to school without par- 1.5 meters will prevent the presence of suspicious ents accompanying them, which suggests that besides people. Nevertheless, it is not only the aforementioned crime, there is also an urgent need to address psycho- physical space elements but also other causes that logical issues such as parents’ fear of crime. affect the occurrence of crime. The opportunity to Interestingly, the theory of Crime Prevention encounter victims also influences the actions of suspi- Through Environmental Design (CPTED) has been cious people, and crimes typically occur when time, developed through three generations by focusing on space, and victims appropriately coincide (Matsunaga a situational approach to crime reduction (1st), social et al. 2012). ecology (2nd), and human motivation and aspirations In addition to crimes committed on school roads, (3rd) (Mihinjac and Saville 2019). In this study, we many researchers are concerned with parents’ fear of adopted the first generation of CPTED (hereafter sim- crimes committed against their children. Parental ply referred as CPTED), which was proposed and devel- restrictions when they feel unsafe about the neighbor- oped around 1970, and focused on its two principles of hood have been found to have an impact on children’s “surveillance” and “territoriality” in particular (Jacobs outdoor activities (Amemiya et al. 2010). Extensive 1961; Jeffery 1971; Newman 1972). research has also shown that the physical space CONTACT Kimihiro Hino hino@ua.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku 113-8656, Japan © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the Architectural Institute of Japan, Architectural Institute of Korea and Architectural Society of China. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. 2 Y. HUANG ET AL. elements on school roads affect parents’ fear of crime. levels change. The second is to systematically evaluate Some store types (e.g., stores for dining and entertain- the influence of street elements rather than examining ment) make parents feel unsafe (Takayanagi and one or two factors individually, and consider the inter- Akashi 2011), and the shape of streets and visibility of action effects as a whole mechanism in this study. The the building interior also influence parents’ fear of third is to consider both the dynamic and static aspects crime (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015). of surveillance and to investigate whether the increas- However, as most previous studies adopted ing territoriality of the housing scale reduces or a questionnaire with a textual description, respondents increases mothers’ fear of crime. were forced to answer it by relying only on their experience and imagination of the scene during the 2. Materials and methods evaluation. This may cause inaccuracies, especially when evaluating parental fear of crime. Computer gra- 2.1. Street montage phics (CG) have also been used to evaluate the effects The target area was the H Elementary School Zone of pedestrian attributes and types of shops on parents’ located in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, Japan. The area was fear of crime (Takayanagi 2014). The CG method selected because of the large number of precursor referred to as “street montage” (Kang and Arima events against children as well as the size (75.9 hec- 2015) was used in the street evaluation and very effec - tares) from areas that are included in Adachi Ward, tively measured road width, cars, and visibility. which has a relatively large number of crimes com- However, there have been few quantitative analyses pared to other residential wards in Tokyo. The target of fear of crime using CG to assess the elements of area is a residential area consisting of four blocks of physical space on the street. In addition, previous stu- exclusively low-rise and one block of mid/high-rise dies are mostly limited to independently examining residential zone of land-use zoning, in which the the- the effect of street elements. The mechanism by ory of CPTED is applicable (Lee, Park, and Jung 2016). which some scenes cause parents’ fear of crime is not The elements in the street montage were deter- fully understood, and the interaction effects of street mined based on the two principles of surveillance elements remain unknown. and territoriality in CPTED (see Table 1). Under the principle of surveillance, street elements were divided into two (Hino et al. 2011): “static” aspect that ensures 1.1. Research purpose and significance visibility to the public space and “dynamic” aspect that The main aim of this research was to quantify mothers’ facilitate human activity. This study focused on build- fear of crime by evaluating the influence of selected ing windows and building usage of static and dynamic street elements on their fear of crime. The principles of aspects, respectively. Under these two aspects, “trans- surveillance and territoriality of the CPTED were used parency of stores,” “windows facing public spaces,” as the theoretical basis for this study (Hino et al. 2011; “use of the ground floor,” and “use of corner lots” Home Office & ODPM 2004). To this end, this study were selected as the main elements in this study. In adopts three goals. The first is to visualize the variation particular, windows, corner lots, and the ground floor of the factors of street elements through the method were the three main factors. The “exhibition and flow - of street montage and to investigate how mothers’ fear ers,” “open chat space,” “defining territories,” and of physical crime against children varies as factors and “grassland” are selected as sub elements of this study. Table 1. Selection of elements and factors in street montage. Principles of CPTED Elements Factors in street montage (references) Surveillance Static aspect Transparency of stores Opacity of frosted window (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015) Window facing public spaces Openness of window (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015) Existence of advertisement (Hino et al. 2011) Existence of sign Existence of window gates (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015) Dynamic aspect Use of ground floor Existence of corner window (Hino et al. 2011) Presence of tables and chairs Existence of fence (Hino et al. 2011) Commercial building usage Exhibition and flowers Organized Plantation (Takayanagi 2014) Use of corner lots Existence of fence (Hino et al. 2011) Height of wall (Takayanagi 2014) Height of hedge (Tanaka et al. 2009) Angle Open chat space Using as open chat space Territoriality Territoriality hierarchy Defining territories Entrance (Matsunaga, Miyazaki, and Sumi 2009) Paving (Hino et al. 2011) Maintenance Grassland Grassland (Hino et al. 2011) Main elements. JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 3 Table 2. Factors and their levels in street montage. Levels Scene Category Factor name 1 2 3 4 Window A: Opacity of frosted glass 0 33% 66% 99% B: Openness of window Not open Open C: Existence of advertisement No Yes D: Existence of sign No Yes E: Existence of window gates No Yes Ground floor F: Existence of corner window No Yes G: Presence of tables and chairs No Yes (parking space) (open chat space) J: Commercial building usage No Yes (private) (public) H: Existence of Fence No Yes Corner lot I: Organized Plantation No Yes K: Height of wall Low High L: Height of hedge Low High M: Entrance No Yes N: Paving Grassland White paving O: Angle Acute Obtuse Key factors. Factors that were selected based on the three main option of the frosted glass layer in Adobe Photoshop. elements were important and were thus labeled as Each street scene in each category included eight individual categories in the street montage. Factors montage photographs, and each photograph indi- selected based on four sub-elements, including exhibi- cated different levels of the three factors. Among tions and flowers, defining territories, open chat spaces, the 96 (8 × 12) montage photos, 8 × 10 photos con- grasslands, and houses, were used as common street tained three factors of two levels, and 8 × 2 photos elements and applied to the entire street montage. As contained one factor of four levels and two factors a result, 18 factors were generated, of which 13 were of two levels. selected from the main street element category and five from the sub-street element category. 2.2. Questionnaire survey Of the 18 factors adopted, two (grassland and use as th open chat spaces) based on sub-elements were set as The questionnaire was conducted online from 12 to the level of the two main factors, considering their NaN Invalid Date NaN. The respondents were mothers attributes. The sub factor grassland became a level of of elementary school students, aged 30–49 years, and “paving,” suggesting that no paving exists, and open living in 22 wards of Tokyo, excluding Adachi Ward. chat space became a level of “presence of tables and A total of 325 survey responses were received. chairs.” The factors “existence of fence” of both corner Overall, 21 questions were included in the survey, lots and ground-floor categories were merged into one which were divided into three parts: three questions factor. Thus, 15 factors were retained (Table 2). Of on screening, six on personal attributes, and 12 on these 15 varying factors in the street montage, seven street montage. Respondents were asked to answer were chosen as critical. According to previous studies, questions assuming that their eldest elementary it is assumed that their interaction effects are more school children may encounter a physical crime on important than others, and they were thus prioritized school roads. In the street montage section, each ques- in the arrangement of the experiment. tion showed one of eight randomly selected montage Twelve street scenes (three categories × four scenes photos. Based on the ten key issues, nine evaluation each) were selected after the arrangement of the street items were chosen in the questionnaire based on pre- montage. Each scene included three factors, and the vious studies (see Table 3), and the options were interaction effects of the key factors were prioritized divided into four levels: strongly agree, somewhat for evaluation. In the corner lots and ground-floor agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. categories, all factors had two levels. In the window The preprocessing of the data collected from the category, four out of the five factors had two levels, questionnaire consisted of three steps. The first step whereas “opacity of frosted glass”, which showed the involved checking and deleting invalid data gathered transparency of the window, had four levels (0, 33%, from 325 respondents, and 311 were eventually 66%, and 99%). The higher the opacity of the frosted accepted. The second was the conversion of certain glass, the lower the transparency of the window, mak- data in the personal attributes section for analytical ing it more difficult to see through the window. The purposes. The third content was the reverse coding specific value of opacity in the street montage photo of the results of the evaluation items, except for was controlled by changing the value in the opacity items I and II in the street montage section. 4 Y. HUANG ET AL. Table 3. Items on fear of crime in the street montage section of the questionnaire. Key issues Questionnaire items (references) I Possibility of hiding a criminal High possibility of hiding a criminal (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) II Possibility for children to be harmed High possibility for children to be harmed physically III Possibility for children to run away High possibility for children to run away when a suspicious person shows up IV Sense of popularity Children could be watched over from the surrounding roads (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) V Sense of brightness Bright environment (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) VI Sense of vision Children be watched over from central building or land (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) Opportunity for someone to use the place VII Possibility of asking someone for help Children could be helped by someone when a suspicious person shows up (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) VIII Management of plants Planting is well managed (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) IX Management of land or building Central building or land is well managed (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) After the variable filter, the command of the MASS 2.3. Statistical analysis package was used to execute the ordinal logistic There are three prerequisites for ordinal logistic regres- regression analysis, and p-values and coefficients sion that should be confirmed before analysis. First, were calculated. The regression model is expressed as subjective questions were removed to avoid mutual follows: interference. Second, the proportional-odds assumption X X is tenable. All the variables were converted into dummy logitðPðy � 4ÞÞ ¼ β β x γ x x (1) i i;j i;j i;k j0 i;j j;k variables. Data collected from the questionnaire was j j� k used for statistically testing the significance of the where y denotes a dependent variable representing impact of the selected physical space elements on an ordinal outcome with four categories (1–4) for each Japanese mothers’ fear of crime by using three item in each scene. Pðy � 4Þ denotes the cumulative packages in R studio (version 4.0.5) – VGAM package, probability of y less than or equal to i = 1,2,3. Hmisc package, and Brant test taking into account that β denotes the estimated intercept, β the estimated j0 i;j certain tests may be inclined to reject the null hypoth- coefficient, and x the independent variables, includ- i;j esis and lead to erratic results. For instance, when using ing selected variables of personal attributes (school the Hmisc package, an infinite value of xlim (limit of age, gender of school child, other transportation to a variable) can lead to a model fitting failure. However, school, other transportation to home） and the sig- this can be fixed by conducting the Brant test, and the nificant variables of the three factors in the street results are displayed as if the proportional odds assump- montage section.γ represents the estimated coeffi - j;k tion holds. As a result, the proportional odds assump- cient regarding the interaction term. tion is tenable for all three methods, indicating that the ordinal logistic regression is applicable. Third, multicol- linearity was tested using the car package (R). The variable filter was used for the multiple regression 3. Results analysis. The analysis was achieved by establishing several 3.1. Window scene objects which represent the fitting linear models, and the objects are used in a stepwise algorithm with the default Table 4 presents the results of the ordinal logistic direction as “backward.” Although all related factors and regression of the street montage section for window interactions were assumed in the original formula, only scenes. Figure 1 shows the corresponding street mon- the significant factors and interactions were included. tage photos, where significant main effects were Table 4. The result of ordinal logistic regression of the window scenes. Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Interaction effects Scene Item Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Window1 III A - - B 0.63 ** D 0.43 * A*B - - IV −0.27 0.08 −0.92 0.13 - - 0.46 * VI −0.31 * −0.75 0.19 - - 0.48 * Window2 VII C - - B - - E −0.62 ** - - Window3 I C −0.51 * B 0.82 * D - - B*D - - II - - 0.79 * - - - - III - - 0.64 ** - - - - IV - - 1.00 ** - - - - V −0.70 * 1.24 ** 0.80 * −1.12 * VI - - 1.49 *** 0.52 0.09 −1.09 * VII - - 1.48 *** 1.15 *** −1.14 * IX - - 2.04 *** 0.70 * −1.49 ** Window4 VIII A - - C −1.24 * E 0.62 * - - - Cat: Category, b: coefficient, p: p-value. A: Opacity of frosted glass; B: Openness of window; C: Existence of advertisement; D: Existence of signs; E: Existence of window gates. *: p < 0.05 **: p < 0.01 ***: p < 0.001. JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 5 Figure 1. Montage photos of the window scenes where significant main effects were observed. (a) Window 1 (Factor B: Openness of window – open) (b) Window 3 (Factor B: Openness of window – open) (c) Window 1 (Factor D: Existence of signs – existence). observed. Factor B (openness of window) has positive Table 5. Significant interaction effects in the window category. B: Openness effects on Item III of Window 1 and items I – IV of Window 3, indicating that when windows are open in Level 0 Level 1 Window 1, mothers tend to feel that the possibility for (a) Window1-ItemIV children to run away is higher (III). When windows are A: Opacity Level 0 0 −0.92 Level 1 −0.27 −0.73 open in Window 3, mothers feel that the possibility of (b) Window1-Item VI hiding a criminal (I) and for children to be physically A: Opacity Level 0 0 −0.75 harmed is lower (II), the possibility for children to run Level 1 −0.31 −0.58 away is higher (III), and that children could be watched from surrounding roads (IV). Factor D (existence of exist in the scene, although the analysis result sign) has positive effects on Item III (Window 1), and shows the same negative effect in both cases, the indicates that when a sign exists in Window 1, mothers interaction effect could potentially be positive, con- are likely to believe that the possibility for children to sidering the main effect. This is because the effects run away is higher (III). of both factors cannot be combined, owing to the Furthermore, the scene in Window 1 indicates upper limit on their effectiveness. Window 1-Item IV the existence of interaction effects. There is and Window 1-Item VI apply to this situation a situation in which either one or both factors 6 Y. HUANG ET AL. angle is obtuse rather than acute, mothers tend to believe that the possibility of hiding a criminal is lower (I), and when the planting is well managed (VIII) in corner lot 2. 3.3. Ground floor scene Table 7 shows the results of the ordinal logistic regres- sion of the street montage section for ground-floor scenes. Factor G (presence of tables and chairs) has positive effects on Items IV and VII in the scene of Figure 2. A montage photo of the window 1 where negative interaction effect was observed (Factor A: opacity; Factor B: ground floor 1, as Item V of ground floor 2 and Item openness). VI of ground floor 3. This suggests that when tables and chairs are present on the ground floor and it is used as an open cafeteria, mothers are likely to believe (Table 5 and Figure 2). Considering that most of the that children could be watched over from surrounding main effects of Factor B (openness of window) are roads (IV), helped by someone (VII) of ground floor 1, positive, the opacity of the frosted window (Factor feel a bright environment (V) of ground floor 2, and A) is likely to have an adverse effect on children that children could be watched over from the central who could be watched over from surrounding roads building or land (VI) of ground floor 3. (Item IV) and central buildings (VI). Factor J (commercial building usage) had positive effects on six items (III to VIII) of ground floor 2 and six items (I, II, V, VI, VIII, and IX) of ground floor 4. 3.2. Corner lot scene These results indicate that when the building was Table 6 presents the results of the ordinal logistic commercially used in the scene of ground floor 2, regression of the street montage section for the corner mothers tended to feel safer in many ways. The lot scenes. In the corner lot category, factor N (paving) corresponding street montage photographs are had positive effects on six items (items III – VII and IX) in shown in Figure 4. corner lot 2 and six items (items I and V – IX) in corner The result of Ground floor 1-Item V (sense of bright- lot 3 (see Figure 3). These results suggest that when ness) shows that although the effects of factors the paving is white, mothers’ fear of crime is reduced in H (fence) and G (tables and chairs) are both positive, different ways. Factor O (angle) has positive effects on the interaction effects of the two factors are negative items I and VIII in corner lot 2, indicating that when the (Figure 5). Table 6. Result of ordinal logistic regression of the corner lot scenes. Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Interaction effects Scene Item Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Corner lot 1 II K - - L - - M 0.5 * - - V −0.55 * - - - - - - VII - - - - 0.58 * - - VIII - - - - 0.44 * - - Corner lot 2 I N - - O 0.73 ** I - - - - III 0.59 ** - - - - - - IV 0.63 ** - - - - - - V 0.49 * - - - - - - VI 0.56 * - - - - - - VII 0.51 * - - - - - - VIII - - 0.62 ** - - - - IX 0.76 *** - - - - - - Corner lot 3 I N 0.96 ** H - - K −0.51 * - - II - - - - −1.06 ** - - IV - - −0.56 * - - - - V 0.6 ** - - - - - - VI 0.5 * - - - - - - VII 0.51 * - - −0.5 * - - VIII 0.54 * −0.46 * - - - - IX 1.26 *** - - - - - - Corner lot 4 I M - - H - - I 0.7 ** H*I- - - II - - 0.25 0.42 0.93 ** −1.03 * VII - - −0.56 * - - - - Cat: Category, b: coefficient, p: p-value. H: Existence of fence, I: Organized plantation, K: Height of wall, L: Height of hedge, M: Entrance, N: Paving, O: Angle. *: p < 0.05 **: p < 0.01 ***: p < 0.001. JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 7 4. Discussion Several factors originally assumed to have a possible impact on mothers’ fear of crime showed notably sig- nificant results. The result of the window category suggests that the openness of windows has a strong positive effect on mothers’ fear of crime. Regardless of whether the window is actually open (Figure 1a) or used as a French window and can be accessed by pedestrians (Figure 1b), mothers tend to believe that physical protection is enhanced and the possibility for children to run away is higher in this scenario. This result suggests that parents’ perceptions were consis- tent with the findings of previous studies in which windows were found to reduce crime and stranger danger risks on school routes (Ago, Matsunaga, and Sumi 2010; Matsunaga, Miyazaki, and Sumi 2009). In addition, it was found that the existence of signs that were originally supposed to influence surveillance actually has positive effects on physical protection. For corner lots, the result shows that an obtuse angle has positive effects on access and movement, as mothers feel that a criminal is unlikely to hide. This supports the findings of Deguchi and Yoshimura (2015) that the number of spots where parents feared Figure 3. Montage photos of the corner lot scenes where for crime was lower on streets with good visibility. significant main effects were observed. (a) Corner lot 2 Interestingly, the results of the ground floor suggest (factor O: obtuse angle) (b) Corner lot 3 (factor N: white that commercial building usage has a strong positive paving). Table 7. Result of ordinal logistic regression of ground floor scenes. Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Interaction effects Scene Item Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Ground floor 1 I G 1.03 ** H 0.40 0.20 F - - G*H −1.11 * II 0.86 ** 0.25 0.40 - - −0.95 * III 0.73 * 0.32 0.30 - - −0.89 * IV 0.58 * - - - - - - V 0.99 ** 0.01 1.00 - - −1.10 * VII 0.80 * - - - - - - VIII 1.34 *** 0.23 0.47 - - −0.93 * IX 1.31 *** 0.61 0.05 - - −1.37 ** Ground floor 2 I G 0.59 ** J −0.55 0.88 I −0.44 0.15 J*I 0.85 * III - - 1.28 *** - - - - IV - - 0.98 *** - - - - V 0.55 * 0.72 * - - - - VI - - 1.19 *** - - - - VII - - 1.37 *** - - - - VIII - - 0.58 ** - - - - IX −0.03 0.92 0.23 0.47 - - G*J 0.86 * Ground floor 3 V G 0.76 * H 1.17 ** I 0.84 * H*I −0.89 * H*G −1.06 * VI 0.75 ** - - - - - - - VIII - - - - 0.50 * - - - Ground floor 4 I F - - J 1.11 *** I - - - - II - - 0.89 *** - - - - - III 0.85 ** 1.83 *** 0.80 * F*I −0.92 * IV - - 1.45 *** 0.85 ** J*I −0.92 * V - - 1.93 *** - - - - - VI 0.77 *** 1.49 *** - - - - - VII 0.93 ** 2.30 *** 1.12 ** J*I −0.92 * VIII - - 1.31 *** - - - - - IX - - 0.89 *** - - - - - Cat: Category, b: coefficient, p: p-value. F: Existence of corner windows; G: Presence of tables and chairs; H: Existence of fence; I: Organized plantations; J: Commercial building usage. *: p < 0.05 **: p < 0.01 ***: p < 0.001. 8 Y. HUANG ET AL. Figure 4. Montage photos of the ground-floor scenes where significant main effects were observed. (a) Ground floor 1 (Factor G: Presence of tables and chairs – yes) (b) Ground floor 3 (Factor G: Presence of tables and chairs – yes) (c) Ground floor 2 (Factor G: Presence of tables and chairs – yes) (d) Ground floor 2 (Factor J: Commercial building usage -yes). influence on mothers’ fear of crime in nine aspects. This result seemingly contradicts that of Takayanagi and Akashi (2011) in which stores made parents feel unsafe. However, unlike stores for dining and enter- tainment it targeted, the types of stores that can be located in the residential areas targeted in this study mitigated fear of crime. Tables and chairs used as open cafeterias enhance surveillance in four ways and mothers feel that children are being watched and could ask for help in this situation. Furthermore, this study investigated interaction Figure 5. A montage photo of the ground floor 1 where effects. Although most results show the additional negative interaction effect was observed (Factor G: tables effect of the main effects. Notably, the results for and chairs; Factor H: fence). JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 9 the window category, show there could be Notes on contributors a possible negative effect of the opacity of the Yilin Huang received her bachelor’s degree in Urban frosted window (factor A) to factor B (openness of Planning in 2020 from Central South University of Forestry window) on children being watched over from the and Technology, China. She then received her master’s surrounding roads (Item IV) and central building (VI) degree from the Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo in 2022. Currently, she is a staff member in Window 1, which shows the effect that is not of Nippon Koei Co., Ltd, having joined the company in 2023. reflected in the main effects. The negative interac- Kimihiro Hino is an associate professor in the Department of tion effects of H (fence) and factor G (tables and Urban Engineering at The University of Tokyo, Japan. After chairs) on Item V (sense of brightness) on ground receiving his PhD from the university in 2003, he worked at floor 1 is also an interesting result. the (national) Building Research Institute before assuming his Moreover, the results for the corner lots suggest current position. His research interests include crime preven- that housing territoriality reduces mothers’ fear of tion through environmental design (CPTED). Currently, he serves as an advisor for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police crime. The main effects in the corner lots suggest Department and the Fukuoka Prefectural Police. that pavement has a strong positive effect on mothers’ fear of crime. When white paving is used instead of Yasushi Asami is a professor in the Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan. His research grassland, even though the territoriality of the housing interest includes residential environment, real estate analysis is greater, mothers feel that children are safer in eight and spatial information analysis. out of the nine evaluated aspects. However, too much Hiroyuki Usui received Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in territoriality could make it difficult for children to enter, 2014 and now is an assistant professor of department of even in an emergency. This limitation could be an Urban Engineering, the University of Tokyo. His research important issue for future research. interests are urban planning, urban morphology, and spatial analysis. He teaches urban planning and GIS to undergradu- ate and graduate students. 5. Conclusion Miku Nakajima received her bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences in 2021 from Yokohama City University, Japan. She This study investigated the mechanism by which received her master’s degree from the Interdisciplinary mothers’ fear of crime is manifested. The findings not Information Studies, The University of Tokyo. only provide further in-depth implications on some street elements based on previous studies but also Data availability statement show that other factors of street elements, such as signs on the window, obtuse angle of corner lots, The questionnaire data are not publicly available, because of commercial building usage and the presence of tables confidentiality agreements with the survey respondents. and chairs on the ground floor may reduce mothers’ fear of crime in several aspects in certain scenes. References Moreover, the interaction effects of the street element factors were initially assumed. The existence of inter- Ago, D., C. Matsunaga, and T. 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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number Home Office & ODPM, 2004. Safer places: The planning system 18K18894. and crime prevention. Accessed February13,2023. https:// 10 Y. HUANG ET AL. www.gov.uk/government/publications/safer-places-the- Management) 68 (5): I__659–I__666. https://doi.org/10. planning-system-and-crime-prevention . 2208/jscejipm.68.I_659 . Jacobs, J. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Mihinjac, M., and G. Saville. 2019. “Third-Generation Crime NY, USA: Random House. Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED.” Social Jeffery, C. R. 1971. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Sciences 8 (6): 182. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8060182 . Design. CA, USA: Sage. National Police Agency. 2019. Police White Paper Digest. Kang, K., and T. Arima. 2015. “Main Factors of Pedestrians’ Accessed February 14,2023. https://www.npa.go.jp/haku Way-Finding by an Experiment of Impression Evaluation syo/r01/english/fulltext.pdf . on Montage Pictures.” Journal of the City Planning Institute Newman, O. 1972. Defensible Space — Crime Prevention of Japan 50 (1): 54–60. Through Urban Design. NY, USA: Macmillan. Lee, J., S. Park, and S. Jung. 2016. “Effect of Crime Prevention Takayanagi, Y. 2014. “Study on the Spatial Plan of Residential Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Measures on Roads in Order to Protect the Primarily School Students.” Active Living and Fear of Crime.” Sustainability 8 (9): 872. University of Tsukuba.February 14, 2023. https://tsukuba. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8090872 . repo.nii.ac.jp/record/32517/files/DA06849.pdf . Matsunaga, C., A. Miyazaki, and T. Sumi. 2009. “A Factors Takayanagi, Y., and T. Akashi. 2011. “Spatial Components on Analysis on Crime Occurrence in School Zone.” Safer Street Space for Children in Terms of Crime Infrastructure Planning Review 26 239–243. https://doi. Prevention.” Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan org/10.2208/journalip.26.239 . 46 (3): 949–954. Matsunaga, C., T. Tajima, D. Ago, and T. Sumi. 2012. “Study on Tanaka, Y., et al. 2009. Consideration for Necessary Influence of Encounter with Target and Surveillance Hedge Glance Permeability on Crime Prevention. Around School-Commuting Roads Given to Crimes Summaries of technical papers of Annual Meeting Targeting School Children.” Journal of Japan Society of Architectural Institute of Japan September 18, 2008 Civil EngineersSer. D3 (Infrastructure Planning and Hiroshima. F-1: 1225–1226. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering Taylor & Francis

Fear of street crime among Japanese mothers with elementary school children: A questionnaire survey using street montage photographs

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JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING https://doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2023.2228931 URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN Fear of street crime among Japanese mothers with elementary school children: A questionnaire survey using street montage photographs a b b b c Yilin Huang , Kimihiro Hino , Yasushi Asami , Hiroyuki Usui and Miku Nakajima ICT Engineering Department, Plant Engineering Division, Solution Operations, Energy Headquarters, Nippon Koei Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan; b c Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan; Applied Computer Science, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo, Japan ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 15 April 2023 Since physical crimes committed on the street against children typically occur during school Accepted 19 June 2023 commutes, there is an urgent need to address Japanese mothers’ fear of such crimes. Although previous studies have proven that several street elements affect parents’ fear of crime, these KEYWORDS elements have been evaluated individually, and there is little analysis of fear of crime using CPTED; street montage; fear computer graphics (CG) to visualize the scenes. In this study, 96 street montage photos were of crime; interaction effect; processed using a systematic mechanism based on the theory of Crime Prevention Through ordinal logistic regression Environmental Design (CPTED) to visualize the variation in factors assuming interaction effects. The results indicate that the presence of signs on windows, obtuse angles of corner lots, commercial building usage, and tables and chairs on the ground floor may moderate mothers’ fear of physical crimes against their children in certain scenes. Moreover, several interaction effects that promoted or moderated the main effects of other factors were observed. These findings suggest that, to reduce mothers’ fear of crime, the identified factors should be considered together, rather than separately\. 1. Introduction Over the past two decades, several studies based on According to the Japanese Police White Paper the theory of CPTED have shown that the physical (National Police Agency 2019), there has been an extre- space elements on school roads are related to elemen- mely slow decline in the number of physical crimes tary school children’s safety. According to Matsunaga, committed on the street against children under the Miyazaki, and Sumi (2009), while vacant land and the age of 13 over the past few years. These crimes typi- absence of windows on school roads, building cally occur in school commutes, from 7:00 am to 8:00 entrances, and exits are associated with a higher am and from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Thus, school roads crime rate against children, the presence of stores play an essential role in maintaining the safety of contributes to a lower crime rate. Ago, Matsunaga, children. Furthermore, compared to the United and Sumi (2010) concluded that limiting the number Kingdom and other countries, Japanese elementary of windows below the 2nd floor as well as walls over school children generally travel to school without par- 1.5 meters will prevent the presence of suspicious ents accompanying them, which suggests that besides people. Nevertheless, it is not only the aforementioned crime, there is also an urgent need to address psycho- physical space elements but also other causes that logical issues such as parents’ fear of crime. affect the occurrence of crime. The opportunity to Interestingly, the theory of Crime Prevention encounter victims also influences the actions of suspi- Through Environmental Design (CPTED) has been cious people, and crimes typically occur when time, developed through three generations by focusing on space, and victims appropriately coincide (Matsunaga a situational approach to crime reduction (1st), social et al. 2012). ecology (2nd), and human motivation and aspirations In addition to crimes committed on school roads, (3rd) (Mihinjac and Saville 2019). In this study, we many researchers are concerned with parents’ fear of adopted the first generation of CPTED (hereafter sim- crimes committed against their children. Parental ply referred as CPTED), which was proposed and devel- restrictions when they feel unsafe about the neighbor- oped around 1970, and focused on its two principles of hood have been found to have an impact on children’s “surveillance” and “territoriality” in particular (Jacobs outdoor activities (Amemiya et al. 2010). Extensive 1961; Jeffery 1971; Newman 1972). research has also shown that the physical space CONTACT Kimihiro Hino hino@ua.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku 113-8656, Japan © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the Architectural Institute of Japan, Architectural Institute of Korea and Architectural Society of China. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. 2 Y. HUANG ET AL. elements on school roads affect parents’ fear of crime. levels change. The second is to systematically evaluate Some store types (e.g., stores for dining and entertain- the influence of street elements rather than examining ment) make parents feel unsafe (Takayanagi and one or two factors individually, and consider the inter- Akashi 2011), and the shape of streets and visibility of action effects as a whole mechanism in this study. The the building interior also influence parents’ fear of third is to consider both the dynamic and static aspects crime (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015). of surveillance and to investigate whether the increas- However, as most previous studies adopted ing territoriality of the housing scale reduces or a questionnaire with a textual description, respondents increases mothers’ fear of crime. were forced to answer it by relying only on their experience and imagination of the scene during the 2. Materials and methods evaluation. This may cause inaccuracies, especially when evaluating parental fear of crime. Computer gra- 2.1. Street montage phics (CG) have also been used to evaluate the effects The target area was the H Elementary School Zone of pedestrian attributes and types of shops on parents’ located in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, Japan. The area was fear of crime (Takayanagi 2014). The CG method selected because of the large number of precursor referred to as “street montage” (Kang and Arima events against children as well as the size (75.9 hec- 2015) was used in the street evaluation and very effec - tares) from areas that are included in Adachi Ward, tively measured road width, cars, and visibility. which has a relatively large number of crimes com- However, there have been few quantitative analyses pared to other residential wards in Tokyo. The target of fear of crime using CG to assess the elements of area is a residential area consisting of four blocks of physical space on the street. In addition, previous stu- exclusively low-rise and one block of mid/high-rise dies are mostly limited to independently examining residential zone of land-use zoning, in which the the- the effect of street elements. The mechanism by ory of CPTED is applicable (Lee, Park, and Jung 2016). which some scenes cause parents’ fear of crime is not The elements in the street montage were deter- fully understood, and the interaction effects of street mined based on the two principles of surveillance elements remain unknown. and territoriality in CPTED (see Table 1). Under the principle of surveillance, street elements were divided into two (Hino et al. 2011): “static” aspect that ensures 1.1. Research purpose and significance visibility to the public space and “dynamic” aspect that The main aim of this research was to quantify mothers’ facilitate human activity. This study focused on build- fear of crime by evaluating the influence of selected ing windows and building usage of static and dynamic street elements on their fear of crime. The principles of aspects, respectively. Under these two aspects, “trans- surveillance and territoriality of the CPTED were used parency of stores,” “windows facing public spaces,” as the theoretical basis for this study (Hino et al. 2011; “use of the ground floor,” and “use of corner lots” Home Office & ODPM 2004). To this end, this study were selected as the main elements in this study. In adopts three goals. The first is to visualize the variation particular, windows, corner lots, and the ground floor of the factors of street elements through the method were the three main factors. The “exhibition and flow - of street montage and to investigate how mothers’ fear ers,” “open chat space,” “defining territories,” and of physical crime against children varies as factors and “grassland” are selected as sub elements of this study. Table 1. Selection of elements and factors in street montage. Principles of CPTED Elements Factors in street montage (references) Surveillance Static aspect Transparency of stores Opacity of frosted window (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015) Window facing public spaces Openness of window (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015) Existence of advertisement (Hino et al. 2011) Existence of sign Existence of window gates (Deguchi and Yoshimura 2015) Dynamic aspect Use of ground floor Existence of corner window (Hino et al. 2011) Presence of tables and chairs Existence of fence (Hino et al. 2011) Commercial building usage Exhibition and flowers Organized Plantation (Takayanagi 2014) Use of corner lots Existence of fence (Hino et al. 2011) Height of wall (Takayanagi 2014) Height of hedge (Tanaka et al. 2009) Angle Open chat space Using as open chat space Territoriality Territoriality hierarchy Defining territories Entrance (Matsunaga, Miyazaki, and Sumi 2009) Paving (Hino et al. 2011) Maintenance Grassland Grassland (Hino et al. 2011) Main elements. JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 3 Table 2. Factors and their levels in street montage. Levels Scene Category Factor name 1 2 3 4 Window A: Opacity of frosted glass 0 33% 66% 99% B: Openness of window Not open Open C: Existence of advertisement No Yes D: Existence of sign No Yes E: Existence of window gates No Yes Ground floor F: Existence of corner window No Yes G: Presence of tables and chairs No Yes (parking space) (open chat space) J: Commercial building usage No Yes (private) (public) H: Existence of Fence No Yes Corner lot I: Organized Plantation No Yes K: Height of wall Low High L: Height of hedge Low High M: Entrance No Yes N: Paving Grassland White paving O: Angle Acute Obtuse Key factors. Factors that were selected based on the three main option of the frosted glass layer in Adobe Photoshop. elements were important and were thus labeled as Each street scene in each category included eight individual categories in the street montage. Factors montage photographs, and each photograph indi- selected based on four sub-elements, including exhibi- cated different levels of the three factors. Among tions and flowers, defining territories, open chat spaces, the 96 (8 × 12) montage photos, 8 × 10 photos con- grasslands, and houses, were used as common street tained three factors of two levels, and 8 × 2 photos elements and applied to the entire street montage. As contained one factor of four levels and two factors a result, 18 factors were generated, of which 13 were of two levels. selected from the main street element category and five from the sub-street element category. 2.2. Questionnaire survey Of the 18 factors adopted, two (grassland and use as th open chat spaces) based on sub-elements were set as The questionnaire was conducted online from 12 to the level of the two main factors, considering their NaN Invalid Date NaN. The respondents were mothers attributes. The sub factor grassland became a level of of elementary school students, aged 30–49 years, and “paving,” suggesting that no paving exists, and open living in 22 wards of Tokyo, excluding Adachi Ward. chat space became a level of “presence of tables and A total of 325 survey responses were received. chairs.” The factors “existence of fence” of both corner Overall, 21 questions were included in the survey, lots and ground-floor categories were merged into one which were divided into three parts: three questions factor. Thus, 15 factors were retained (Table 2). Of on screening, six on personal attributes, and 12 on these 15 varying factors in the street montage, seven street montage. Respondents were asked to answer were chosen as critical. According to previous studies, questions assuming that their eldest elementary it is assumed that their interaction effects are more school children may encounter a physical crime on important than others, and they were thus prioritized school roads. In the street montage section, each ques- in the arrangement of the experiment. tion showed one of eight randomly selected montage Twelve street scenes (three categories × four scenes photos. Based on the ten key issues, nine evaluation each) were selected after the arrangement of the street items were chosen in the questionnaire based on pre- montage. Each scene included three factors, and the vious studies (see Table 3), and the options were interaction effects of the key factors were prioritized divided into four levels: strongly agree, somewhat for evaluation. In the corner lots and ground-floor agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. categories, all factors had two levels. In the window The preprocessing of the data collected from the category, four out of the five factors had two levels, questionnaire consisted of three steps. The first step whereas “opacity of frosted glass”, which showed the involved checking and deleting invalid data gathered transparency of the window, had four levels (0, 33%, from 325 respondents, and 311 were eventually 66%, and 99%). The higher the opacity of the frosted accepted. The second was the conversion of certain glass, the lower the transparency of the window, mak- data in the personal attributes section for analytical ing it more difficult to see through the window. The purposes. The third content was the reverse coding specific value of opacity in the street montage photo of the results of the evaluation items, except for was controlled by changing the value in the opacity items I and II in the street montage section. 4 Y. HUANG ET AL. Table 3. Items on fear of crime in the street montage section of the questionnaire. Key issues Questionnaire items (references) I Possibility of hiding a criminal High possibility of hiding a criminal (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) II Possibility for children to be harmed High possibility for children to be harmed physically III Possibility for children to run away High possibility for children to run away when a suspicious person shows up IV Sense of popularity Children could be watched over from the surrounding roads (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) V Sense of brightness Bright environment (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) VI Sense of vision Children be watched over from central building or land (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) Opportunity for someone to use the place VII Possibility of asking someone for help Children could be helped by someone when a suspicious person shows up (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) VIII Management of plants Planting is well managed (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) IX Management of land or building Central building or land is well managed (Hino, Ishii, and Fujii 2014) After the variable filter, the command of the MASS 2.3. Statistical analysis package was used to execute the ordinal logistic There are three prerequisites for ordinal logistic regres- regression analysis, and p-values and coefficients sion that should be confirmed before analysis. First, were calculated. The regression model is expressed as subjective questions were removed to avoid mutual follows: interference. Second, the proportional-odds assumption X X is tenable. All the variables were converted into dummy logitðPðy � 4ÞÞ ¼ β β x γ x x (1) i i;j i;j i;k j0 i;j j;k variables. Data collected from the questionnaire was j j� k used for statistically testing the significance of the where y denotes a dependent variable representing impact of the selected physical space elements on an ordinal outcome with four categories (1–4) for each Japanese mothers’ fear of crime by using three item in each scene. Pðy � 4Þ denotes the cumulative packages in R studio (version 4.0.5) – VGAM package, probability of y less than or equal to i = 1,2,3. Hmisc package, and Brant test taking into account that β denotes the estimated intercept, β the estimated j0 i;j certain tests may be inclined to reject the null hypoth- coefficient, and x the independent variables, includ- i;j esis and lead to erratic results. For instance, when using ing selected variables of personal attributes (school the Hmisc package, an infinite value of xlim (limit of age, gender of school child, other transportation to a variable) can lead to a model fitting failure. However, school, other transportation to home） and the sig- this can be fixed by conducting the Brant test, and the nificant variables of the three factors in the street results are displayed as if the proportional odds assump- montage section.γ represents the estimated coeffi - j;k tion holds. As a result, the proportional odds assump- cient regarding the interaction term. tion is tenable for all three methods, indicating that the ordinal logistic regression is applicable. Third, multicol- linearity was tested using the car package (R). The variable filter was used for the multiple regression 3. Results analysis. The analysis was achieved by establishing several 3.1. Window scene objects which represent the fitting linear models, and the objects are used in a stepwise algorithm with the default Table 4 presents the results of the ordinal logistic direction as “backward.” Although all related factors and regression of the street montage section for window interactions were assumed in the original formula, only scenes. Figure 1 shows the corresponding street mon- the significant factors and interactions were included. tage photos, where significant main effects were Table 4. The result of ordinal logistic regression of the window scenes. Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Interaction effects Scene Item Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Window1 III A - - B 0.63 ** D 0.43 * A*B - - IV −0.27 0.08 −0.92 0.13 - - 0.46 * VI −0.31 * −0.75 0.19 - - 0.48 * Window2 VII C - - B - - E −0.62 ** - - Window3 I C −0.51 * B 0.82 * D - - B*D - - II - - 0.79 * - - - - III - - 0.64 ** - - - - IV - - 1.00 ** - - - - V −0.70 * 1.24 ** 0.80 * −1.12 * VI - - 1.49 *** 0.52 0.09 −1.09 * VII - - 1.48 *** 1.15 *** −1.14 * IX - - 2.04 *** 0.70 * −1.49 ** Window4 VIII A - - C −1.24 * E 0.62 * - - - Cat: Category, b: coefficient, p: p-value. A: Opacity of frosted glass; B: Openness of window; C: Existence of advertisement; D: Existence of signs; E: Existence of window gates. *: p < 0.05 **: p < 0.01 ***: p < 0.001. JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 5 Figure 1. Montage photos of the window scenes where significant main effects were observed. (a) Window 1 (Factor B: Openness of window – open) (b) Window 3 (Factor B: Openness of window – open) (c) Window 1 (Factor D: Existence of signs – existence). observed. Factor B (openness of window) has positive Table 5. Significant interaction effects in the window category. B: Openness effects on Item III of Window 1 and items I – IV of Window 3, indicating that when windows are open in Level 0 Level 1 Window 1, mothers tend to feel that the possibility for (a) Window1-ItemIV children to run away is higher (III). When windows are A: Opacity Level 0 0 −0.92 Level 1 −0.27 −0.73 open in Window 3, mothers feel that the possibility of (b) Window1-Item VI hiding a criminal (I) and for children to be physically A: Opacity Level 0 0 −0.75 harmed is lower (II), the possibility for children to run Level 1 −0.31 −0.58 away is higher (III), and that children could be watched from surrounding roads (IV). Factor D (existence of exist in the scene, although the analysis result sign) has positive effects on Item III (Window 1), and shows the same negative effect in both cases, the indicates that when a sign exists in Window 1, mothers interaction effect could potentially be positive, con- are likely to believe that the possibility for children to sidering the main effect. This is because the effects run away is higher (III). of both factors cannot be combined, owing to the Furthermore, the scene in Window 1 indicates upper limit on their effectiveness. Window 1-Item IV the existence of interaction effects. There is and Window 1-Item VI apply to this situation a situation in which either one or both factors 6 Y. HUANG ET AL. angle is obtuse rather than acute, mothers tend to believe that the possibility of hiding a criminal is lower (I), and when the planting is well managed (VIII) in corner lot 2. 3.3. Ground floor scene Table 7 shows the results of the ordinal logistic regres- sion of the street montage section for ground-floor scenes. Factor G (presence of tables and chairs) has positive effects on Items IV and VII in the scene of Figure 2. A montage photo of the window 1 where negative interaction effect was observed (Factor A: opacity; Factor B: ground floor 1, as Item V of ground floor 2 and Item openness). VI of ground floor 3. This suggests that when tables and chairs are present on the ground floor and it is used as an open cafeteria, mothers are likely to believe (Table 5 and Figure 2). Considering that most of the that children could be watched over from surrounding main effects of Factor B (openness of window) are roads (IV), helped by someone (VII) of ground floor 1, positive, the opacity of the frosted window (Factor feel a bright environment (V) of ground floor 2, and A) is likely to have an adverse effect on children that children could be watched over from the central who could be watched over from surrounding roads building or land (VI) of ground floor 3. (Item IV) and central buildings (VI). Factor J (commercial building usage) had positive effects on six items (III to VIII) of ground floor 2 and six items (I, II, V, VI, VIII, and IX) of ground floor 4. 3.2. Corner lot scene These results indicate that when the building was Table 6 presents the results of the ordinal logistic commercially used in the scene of ground floor 2, regression of the street montage section for the corner mothers tended to feel safer in many ways. The lot scenes. In the corner lot category, factor N (paving) corresponding street montage photographs are had positive effects on six items (items III – VII and IX) in shown in Figure 4. corner lot 2 and six items (items I and V – IX) in corner The result of Ground floor 1-Item V (sense of bright- lot 3 (see Figure 3). These results suggest that when ness) shows that although the effects of factors the paving is white, mothers’ fear of crime is reduced in H (fence) and G (tables and chairs) are both positive, different ways. Factor O (angle) has positive effects on the interaction effects of the two factors are negative items I and VIII in corner lot 2, indicating that when the (Figure 5). Table 6. Result of ordinal logistic regression of the corner lot scenes. Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Interaction effects Scene Item Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Corner lot 1 II K - - L - - M 0.5 * - - V −0.55 * - - - - - - VII - - - - 0.58 * - - VIII - - - - 0.44 * - - Corner lot 2 I N - - O 0.73 ** I - - - - III 0.59 ** - - - - - - IV 0.63 ** - - - - - - V 0.49 * - - - - - - VI 0.56 * - - - - - - VII 0.51 * - - - - - - VIII - - 0.62 ** - - - - IX 0.76 *** - - - - - - Corner lot 3 I N 0.96 ** H - - K −0.51 * - - II - - - - −1.06 ** - - IV - - −0.56 * - - - - V 0.6 ** - - - - - - VI 0.5 * - - - - - - VII 0.51 * - - −0.5 * - - VIII 0.54 * −0.46 * - - - - IX 1.26 *** - - - - - - Corner lot 4 I M - - H - - I 0.7 ** H*I- - - II - - 0.25 0.42 0.93 ** −1.03 * VII - - −0.56 * - - - - Cat: Category, b: coefficient, p: p-value. H: Existence of fence, I: Organized plantation, K: Height of wall, L: Height of hedge, M: Entrance, N: Paving, O: Angle. *: p < 0.05 **: p < 0.01 ***: p < 0.001. JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 7 4. Discussion Several factors originally assumed to have a possible impact on mothers’ fear of crime showed notably sig- nificant results. The result of the window category suggests that the openness of windows has a strong positive effect on mothers’ fear of crime. Regardless of whether the window is actually open (Figure 1a) or used as a French window and can be accessed by pedestrians (Figure 1b), mothers tend to believe that physical protection is enhanced and the possibility for children to run away is higher in this scenario. This result suggests that parents’ perceptions were consis- tent with the findings of previous studies in which windows were found to reduce crime and stranger danger risks on school routes (Ago, Matsunaga, and Sumi 2010; Matsunaga, Miyazaki, and Sumi 2009). In addition, it was found that the existence of signs that were originally supposed to influence surveillance actually has positive effects on physical protection. For corner lots, the result shows that an obtuse angle has positive effects on access and movement, as mothers feel that a criminal is unlikely to hide. This supports the findings of Deguchi and Yoshimura (2015) that the number of spots where parents feared Figure 3. Montage photos of the corner lot scenes where for crime was lower on streets with good visibility. significant main effects were observed. (a) Corner lot 2 Interestingly, the results of the ground floor suggest (factor O: obtuse angle) (b) Corner lot 3 (factor N: white that commercial building usage has a strong positive paving). Table 7. Result of ordinal logistic regression of ground floor scenes. Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Interaction effects Scene Item Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Cat b p Ground floor 1 I G 1.03 ** H 0.40 0.20 F - - G*H −1.11 * II 0.86 ** 0.25 0.40 - - −0.95 * III 0.73 * 0.32 0.30 - - −0.89 * IV 0.58 * - - - - - - V 0.99 ** 0.01 1.00 - - −1.10 * VII 0.80 * - - - - - - VIII 1.34 *** 0.23 0.47 - - −0.93 * IX 1.31 *** 0.61 0.05 - - −1.37 ** Ground floor 2 I G 0.59 ** J −0.55 0.88 I −0.44 0.15 J*I 0.85 * III - - 1.28 *** - - - - IV - - 0.98 *** - - - - V 0.55 * 0.72 * - - - - VI - - 1.19 *** - - - - VII - - 1.37 *** - - - - VIII - - 0.58 ** - - - - IX −0.03 0.92 0.23 0.47 - - G*J 0.86 * Ground floor 3 V G 0.76 * H 1.17 ** I 0.84 * H*I −0.89 * H*G −1.06 * VI 0.75 ** - - - - - - - VIII - - - - 0.50 * - - - Ground floor 4 I F - - J 1.11 *** I - - - - II - - 0.89 *** - - - - - III 0.85 ** 1.83 *** 0.80 * F*I −0.92 * IV - - 1.45 *** 0.85 ** J*I −0.92 * V - - 1.93 *** - - - - - VI 0.77 *** 1.49 *** - - - - - VII 0.93 ** 2.30 *** 1.12 ** J*I −0.92 * VIII - - 1.31 *** - - - - - IX - - 0.89 *** - - - - - Cat: Category, b: coefficient, p: p-value. F: Existence of corner windows; G: Presence of tables and chairs; H: Existence of fence; I: Organized plantations; J: Commercial building usage. *: p < 0.05 **: p < 0.01 ***: p < 0.001. 8 Y. HUANG ET AL. Figure 4. Montage photos of the ground-floor scenes where significant main effects were observed. (a) Ground floor 1 (Factor G: Presence of tables and chairs – yes) (b) Ground floor 3 (Factor G: Presence of tables and chairs – yes) (c) Ground floor 2 (Factor G: Presence of tables and chairs – yes) (d) Ground floor 2 (Factor J: Commercial building usage -yes). influence on mothers’ fear of crime in nine aspects. This result seemingly contradicts that of Takayanagi and Akashi (2011) in which stores made parents feel unsafe. However, unlike stores for dining and enter- tainment it targeted, the types of stores that can be located in the residential areas targeted in this study mitigated fear of crime. Tables and chairs used as open cafeterias enhance surveillance in four ways and mothers feel that children are being watched and could ask for help in this situation. Furthermore, this study investigated interaction Figure 5. A montage photo of the ground floor 1 where effects. Although most results show the additional negative interaction effect was observed (Factor G: tables effect of the main effects. Notably, the results for and chairs; Factor H: fence). JOURNAL OF ASIAN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING ENGINEERING 9 the window category, show there could be Notes on contributors a possible negative effect of the opacity of the Yilin Huang received her bachelor’s degree in Urban frosted window (factor A) to factor B (openness of Planning in 2020 from Central South University of Forestry window) on children being watched over from the and Technology, China. She then received her master’s surrounding roads (Item IV) and central building (VI) degree from the Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo in 2022. Currently, she is a staff member in Window 1, which shows the effect that is not of Nippon Koei Co., Ltd, having joined the company in 2023. reflected in the main effects. The negative interac- Kimihiro Hino is an associate professor in the Department of tion effects of H (fence) and factor G (tables and Urban Engineering at The University of Tokyo, Japan. After chairs) on Item V (sense of brightness) on ground receiving his PhD from the university in 2003, he worked at floor 1 is also an interesting result. the (national) Building Research Institute before assuming his Moreover, the results for the corner lots suggest current position. His research interests include crime preven- that housing territoriality reduces mothers’ fear of tion through environmental design (CPTED). Currently, he serves as an advisor for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police crime. The main effects in the corner lots suggest Department and the Fukuoka Prefectural Police. that pavement has a strong positive effect on mothers’ fear of crime. When white paving is used instead of Yasushi Asami is a professor in the Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan. His research grassland, even though the territoriality of the housing interest includes residential environment, real estate analysis is greater, mothers feel that children are safer in eight and spatial information analysis. out of the nine evaluated aspects. However, too much Hiroyuki Usui received Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in territoriality could make it difficult for children to enter, 2014 and now is an assistant professor of department of even in an emergency. This limitation could be an Urban Engineering, the University of Tokyo. His research important issue for future research. interests are urban planning, urban morphology, and spatial analysis. He teaches urban planning and GIS to undergradu- ate and graduate students. 5. Conclusion Miku Nakajima received her bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences in 2021 from Yokohama City University, Japan. She This study investigated the mechanism by which received her master’s degree from the Interdisciplinary mothers’ fear of crime is manifested. The findings not Information Studies, The University of Tokyo. only provide further in-depth implications on some street elements based on previous studies but also Data availability statement show that other factors of street elements, such as signs on the window, obtuse angle of corner lots, The questionnaire data are not publicly available, because of commercial building usage and the presence of tables confidentiality agreements with the survey respondents. and chairs on the ground floor may reduce mothers’ fear of crime in several aspects in certain scenes. References Moreover, the interaction effects of the street element factors were initially assumed. The existence of inter- Ago, D., C. Matsunaga, and T. 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Journal

Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jun 28, 2023

Keywords: CPTED; street montage; fear of crime; interaction effect; ordinal logistic regression

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