An analysis of safety perception in the street of Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

Urban safety is an important focus area of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and New Urban Agenda (NUA) were developed. Safe City Programme were introduced in Malaysia in 2004 in parallel with DG 11 that aiming on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable for the citizens. Safe street contributes to a better quality of life and have been identified as important factor in contributing to a walkable and sustainable city. A safe, vibrant life initiate an active public realm where streets re seen as urban spaces. Pedestrian are encourage to walk when the environment is safe and accessible. Safety perception is the main focus of this research where case study approach is adopted. A mixed method was designed in order to fully evaluate and assess the phenomenon. 150 questionnaires were distributed randomly among pedestrian at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur and structured observation were performed. Triangulation of both statistical and thematic analysis were conducted and findings from this study revealed that both physical and social elements does contribute to safety perception. Findings demonstrate that as far as sustainable city is concerned, all aspect are crucial and need to be addressed. The aim of this paper is to assess the characteristic of a street in contributing to safety perception.