Safe City and Neighbourhood

The implementation of the “Safe City and Safe neighbourhood initiative” by the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) is a very significant contribution by a non-governmental organization towards crime prevention, other than through the enforcement of law and order.

The safe city initiative is basically an MCPF project designed to create a safer living environment, minimizing the opportunities for crime to take place.

In the Malaysian context, the safe city and safe neighbourhood initiative represents a good example of positive partnership between the government and citizens working towards crime prevention through environmental design, community development and education.

The move entails the mobilization of all relevant parties like planners and architects, developers, voluntary organizations, local authorities and residents to work in partnership and implement initiatives for crime prevention.

What is even more significant is the fact that our safe city initiative bring together all relevant parties to custom design solutions to existing problems and to anticipate problems and prepare for solutions to safety issues within the locality.

It has been established that the fear of crime is as serious as crime itself. The use of environmental psychology and environmental design can contribute substantially towards eliminating the fear of crime and reduce crime occurrences.

The concept of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) has as its basic premise that the proper design and effective use of the physical environment can lead to a reduction in the incidence and fear of crime, thereby improving the quality of life.

Basically 11 activities will be undertaken in connection with the implementation of the safe-city initiative:

• Selection of project area
• Identification of target groups in the project area
• Explaining the concept of target groups
• Setting up the safe city committee for the project area
• Identifying crime issues and problems by the target groups and the safe city committee
• Solving issues and problems by the target groups
• Appointing consultants, if necessary
• Implementing suggestions on crime prevention
• Monitoring the effectiveness of suggestions and making amendments if necessary
• Documenting projects activities
• Monitoring the safe city concept and continuous follow up action

The safe city committee will be chaired by a resident’s representative, preferably the chairman of the resident’s association, and comprise representatives from the local authority, the police department, the MCPF, relevant government agencies, non governmental organizations, the developer and professionals like architects, planner, etc.

The implementation of the safe-city and safe-neighbourhood initiative requires concerted effort and cooperation between all parties concerned with the community - from city planners and architects who design the environment, developers who build it, government officials responsible for administering the community and the residents who live there – all working towards creating a safer living environment.

The occurrence of crime from time to time is a reminder that the people must never take safety and security for granted. It is appropriate that the safe-city initiative be implemented to mobilize community efforts in crime prevention.

While we recognize that the police have a major role to play the responsibility is not theirs alone. While Malaysia is a comparatively safe country to live in, its citizens and residents should always be conscious of the need to be vigilant and help participate in crime prevention efforts.

Besides contributing towards crime prevention, the safe-city initiative also aims to build strong neighbourhood links and forge greater community cooperation, which are essential in our multi-racial society.

Through such initiative and working towards a common objective of building safer cities, all those involved in the implementation of the safe city concept can help to foster and strengthen inter racial harmony and national unity in our multi-racial country.