Homeowner's Architectural Responses to Crime in Dar Es Salaan Its impacts and implications to urban architecture, urban design and urban management

Abstract: HTML clipboardThis study is about Homeowner’s architectural responses to crime in Dar es Salaam Tanzania: its impacts and implications to urban architecture, urban design and urban management. The study explores and examines the processes through which homeowners respond to crimes of burglary, home robbery and fear of it using architectural or physical elements. The processes are explored and examined using case study methodology in three cases in Dar es Salaam. The cases are residential areas of Mikocheni B, Ilala Kasulu and Chang’ombe Housing. The findings from the three cases are compared and the common findings are illuminated and discussed using criminology, economic and social theories and concepts.The results of the study show that, homeowners physically and architecturally modify their home environments for many reasons. Homeowners do so by building or erecting wall fences around their houses and install or barricade doors and windows using metal bars. From the study, the notable main reasons are security and protection from burglary, thefts, home robbery and visual and physical privacy. Others include property marking, disputes and misunderstandings between neighbours and property encroachment by neighbours. In the study, it has been established that, the actions by the homeowners in responding to crime of burglary, thievery and home robberies have impacts and implications on the built environment. The impacts are: affects the visual experience of the built form by limiting view to houses; keeps neighbours apart thus limiting social interaction among residents; segregating public spaces and thus making them empty without people; encroaching on the streets; reducing surveilability of streets and neighbouring dwellings; create the impression of ‘private appearance’ therefore stigmataizing the residential neighbourhoods, all of which increase the vulnerability of areas as well as enhancing the ‘subjective’ feeling of fear in the areas. Furthermore, the responses pose risks to residents when fire evacuation from homes is required, including the effects that affect the environmental comfort conditions of homes and the overall built environment.Despite of the impacts to the built environment as summarised in the foregoing, the study has shown that, homeowners still erect wall fences and barricade their homes due to fear arising from previous crimes. On the basis of the impacts, a new approach to planning of residential housing areas is recommended in which the question of security against crime is included as design factor particularly in urban design. Either an approach to architectural design of houses and the layout of houses that considers crime as an important factor in addition to ‘target hardening’ approach is recommended to increase visibility and surveilability of built environments. The study concludes by highlighting five implications to urban architecture, urban design and urban management at planning and architectural design, considerations which may be of impacts towards improving built environment and management of the urban residential arena. The study ends by outlining and recommending areas of further research.