Fear of the Streets

In John R. Gold’s and George Revill’s article Exploring landscapes of fear: Marginality, Spectacle and Surveillance converses about how landscape creates fear for several people. From the phenomenological point of view there are numerous of people that are experiencing fear till today. There are many people that fear the dark, war, violence, fear of bullies, prison, etc. In the article Smith Admits London Street Fear in The BBC News illustrates that Jacqui Smith, the home secretary fears walking around in London when it is dark and in affluent areas. Smith also indicates that one should not walk in unknown areas. Many people fear the streets due to the incidents that may occur. For example; murder, death, being kidnapped or raped, robbery, etc. The street is a public space that indicates fear of felony and chaos.

The Metropolitan Police had revealed that in October 2007 the number of crime in the capital had decreased to 6.1 percent. Gold and Revill illustrates that street violence is increasing in cities and it is frequently women that are experiencing this anxiety. Furthermore, gun crime has gradually increased to 10 percent, during last year of April and September. Smith addresses that the government played a huge part in convincing the populace that cities and towns are not dangerous. The article also reveals that most of the money is going towards ID scheme when it should go towards hiring additional police officers on the streets to tackle crime. Smith only wants to know what is occurring on the streets, as well as who the officers are and what they do. Therefore, having extra police officers on the streets would help a lot of people feel secure to walk at night in places and spaces.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7198508.stm