Urban Parks: Women's Fears and Planning/Design Considerations

University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 1997 Urban parks: Women's fears and planning/design considerations Riechert, Evelyn Riechert, E. (1997). Urban parks: Women's fears and planning/design considerations (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/16344 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/26813 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Urban Parks: Women's Fears and Planning/ Design Considerations by Evelyn Riechert A Master's Degree Project submitted to the Faculty of Environmental Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Design (Planning) Faculty of Environmental Design Calgary, Alberta April, 1997 ©Evelyn E. Riechert, 1997 The author of this thesis has granted the University of Calgary a non-exclusive license to reproduce and distribute copies of this thesis to users of the University of Calgary Archives. Copyright remains with the author. Theses and dissertations available in the University of Calgary Institutional Repository are solely for the purpose of private study and research. They may not be copied or reproduced, except as permitted by copyright laws, without written authority of the copyright owner. Any commercial use or publication is strictly prohibited. The original Partial Copyright License attesting to these terms and signed by the author of this thesis may be found in the original print version of the thesis, held by the University of Calgary Archives. The thesis approval page signed by the examining committee may also be found in the original print version of the thesis held in the University of Calgary Archives. Please contact the University of Calgary Archives for further information, E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: (403) 220-7271 Website: http://www.ucalgary.ca/archives/ ABSTRACT Urban wooded parks, though important ecologically, are fearful to women; but such can be allayed by better understanding the sources and nature of the fear, and by responding with appropriate public policy and municipal practices. The purpose of this Master's Degree Project is twofold: to examine the 'good' and 'bad' of urban parks with reference to women's perceptions and fears; and to investigate how planning, design and other measures can help redress this state of apprehension among women. Information for this Study was gathered essentially from a comprehensive literature search; from interviews with planning professionals and police officers, and, in addition from observations made at Stanley Park in Vancouver and Edworthy Park in Calgary. It also examines the interventions three cities -- Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary -- have initiated to reduce the fear of crime. Recommendations are made for design, citizen participation, ecological awareness, women's use of paries, and further research. Key words: urban paries, women, violence against women, crime, fear, ecological planning, park design, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee - Lauren Johnson and Ron Glasberg -- for their support and interest in this project. I would especially like to thank Lauren for all the time and energy she spent working with me: consoling, counseling and helping recharge my enthusiasm. Thanks Lauren! I also aclcnowledge the support of Bill Perks and thank him for his editorial comments. Finally, I wish to thank my roommates -Karen and Ryan -- for tolerating me through this process. Thanks for your comfort, care, late night discussions and support! IV Table of Contents Approval Page ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Purposes and The Basic Issues 2 Scope and Limitations of the Study 5 Method 6 Organization of the Document 8 Urban Parks and Nature in the City 11 Historical Basis for Parks 12 Planning and the Urban Park Connection 14 Ecological considerations in urban areas 17 Human Attachment to Nature Within Cities 23 Trees and Woods 26 Conclusions and Comments 29 Urban Fear & Crime, and Women 31 Studying Fear 32 Distribution of Fear 33 Crime reporting 34 Crime Statistics 38 Women's Fears 40 The Paradox of Fear 41 Nature of Women's Fear 42 Women's Socialization and Gender Roles 46 Violence Against Women 47 Some consequences of Women's fear 50 Conclusions and Comments 5 1 Interventions 54 Safer City Overview 56 Vancouver 58 Calgary 6 1 Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design 63 Safe Parks 68 Toronto's Safer Park Guidelines 68 Vancouver's Parks Safety Planner 70 Calgary Parks Department 7 1 Park Safety in Calgary 73 Conclusions and Comments 73 Reflections and Recommendations 76 Overall Reflections on Gaps in Addressing Women's Fear 77 CPTED and Parks 78 Safety Audits 80 v Recommended Approach 82 1 . Design 84 2. Ecological Considerations 91 3. Citizen Participation 94 4. Women in Parks 95 5 . Further Research 97 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Medieval Gardens 13 Figure 1 .2 Versailles 1 4 Figure 1.3 Central Park 15 Figure 1.4 An Ecological Footprint 19 Figure 1.5 Stanley Park 24 Figure 1.6 Edworthy park and Douglas Fir Trail 24 Figure 2.1 Sensational Headlines 37 Figure 3.1 Design concepts for CPTED 64 Figure 3.2 Plaza re-design using CPTED 66 Figure 3.3 Open Space designation in Calgary 7 1 Figure 4.1 Pathway Cross Sections: Stanley Park and CPTED... 79 Figure 4.2 A Framework for Action 83 Figure 4.3 Signs 8 6 Figure 4.4 Signs 8 7 Figure 4.5 A conceptual re-design of trail system in Stanley Park88 Figure 4.6 Examples of entryways 89 Figure 4.7 Lighting arrangement: plan view 91 Figure 4.8 Lighting arrangement: section view 91 Figure 4.9 Energy inputs and outputs in a park 93 List of Tables Table 1.1 The effect of interior-to-edge ratio on ecological character 25 Table 2.1 Number and % of women 1 8 years of age and over who have experienced violence, by relationship of perpetrator 49 Table 2 .2 Number and % of women 1 8 years of age and over who have experienced violence, by type of violence 49 Table 3.1 CPTED Approaches addressing problems in an Urban Park 67 References 99 Appendix A 105 vi Introduction [ went walking through the forest in Stanley Park, one of Vancouver's 'jewels', three friends had come along, two women and one man. It was a glorious, sunny, west-coast summer's day; the beaches were packed, the sun was intense and the wind blew warm. Once out of the parking lot and onto the trails inside the rain forest it was cool, shady and quiet, away from the urban hustle and bustle. The forest beckoned: home to cedars, ferns, and moss. Light filtered through the branches, breaking the shadow with a bright intensity- The smell was soothing, clean, earthy, aromatic. With its sense of isolation, the forest contrasted the rest of the park . This sense of isolation prompted Aneeta (recently moved to Vancouver from Toronto) to exclaim about five minutes into the trail that she would never have come onto the trails and in the forest by herself ... ever! Her comment J prompted me to ask what she and the others felt about the forest of Stanley Park. Aneeta explained she felt 'isolated' and 'scared'; she needed to see other people ('safe' people); and she was afraid of getting lost. Marv, said she used to jog through the trails when she lived in the West End with a friend but she never came by herself; nor would she, even though the woods were cool and shady, with soft pathways throughout. Bob said he used to walk often through the park in the past, and he had forgotten how beautiful it was. I also thought it was beautiful, but I was also worried about getting lost; there were almost no signs and I didn't know my way around the park. How is this little anecdote possibly important for planners and civic decision-makers? It is important because it exemplifies the differences 1 between experiencing an urban wooded area as a woman and as a man. My friends are not atypical. The feelings they expressed can be found repeatedly in popular culture (movies, television, stories) and are studied in sociological, geographical and psychological research: women experience their surroundings differently than do men. The anecdote also illustrates the dilemma pertaining to the environmental consideration of providing 'urbanites' with natural places close to home and the social and psychological consequences of having those spaces. Walldng through cool woods, with the light filtering through the canopy, and fresh earthy smells permeating the air is a wonderful feeling and one which should be equally enjoyable for all people. Purposes and The Basic Issues The purpose of my study is twofold: to examine the 'good' and the 'bad' of urban parks with reference to women's perceptions and fears; and to investigate how planning, design and other measures can help redress this state of apprehension among women. Urban wooded parks, though important ecologically, are fearful to women; but such can be allayed by better understanding the sources and nature of the fear, and by responding with appropriate public policy and municipal practices. I wish to connect a number of ideas and issues and to suggest, in both discussion and with a few conceptual designs, in what ways parks planning and management might be improved.

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