Project Description

The quality of life in a city and the presence of crime where one lives is a topic of general interest. Citizens face more or less daily problems related to crimes. These problems can be directly confronted from the perspective of architecture by the structure, shape and morphology of a city. To this end pedestrian accessibility, references or urban landmarks allow convenient orientation in a city, which also represents the urban identity. Knowing that urban spaces and the mass of buildings identify a relationship between the physical and social practices, this research focuses on the premise that those problems can be minimized by project intervention and pointing out the weaknesses of a city's architecture, even where previously considered well-built. Also, this acknowledges that increasingly safety is a factor in the cultural and socio-economic development of cities. By the local coexistence of ideas and different behaviors, cities reflect how they are lived through their architecture and their physical organization.

This study aims to identify the weaknesses of architectural spaces, the scale of the buildings and the neighborhoods by highlighting the safety perspective. To this end we propose the development of a method of measurement indicators, here called Sistema Integrado de Desenho Seguro – SIDES – (System of Integrated Design Security) as guidelines for intervention in the urban fabric. In order to test the proposed tool, places in Portugal and Brazil, which had the highest levels of security, have been identified. The objective is to ascertain which of the weakest points in the architecture of these cities are likely to be redesigned according to urban security, physical form and social diversity.

Research Team

• Carla Valéria Siqueira Pinto da Silva
• Tânia Liani Beisl Ramos (supervisor)
• Fernando Manuel Brandão Alves (co-supervisor)

Financial Support

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Stage of Progress

• Concluded in 2014