The Impact of Urban Streets Layout on Crimes: A Space Syntax Analysis of Hayatabad Peshawar

Abstract

Urban population is on a rising trend and with that, the planning and design of cities and urban settings has a vital role to play in making sure that our cities remain pleasant, healthy, and safe. Crime prevention as a goal is often overlooked in urban planning and has a drastic effect on the quality of urban life. In this study, the street layout of Hayatabad, Peshawar is analyzed through axial map analysis using UCL Depthmap software based on Space Syntax theory to identify possible crime hotspots in the area. The possible hotspots in existing street layout of the area are identified based on the integration values from analysis. Thereafter, a proposed street layout, with addition of new streets, is presented that significantly improves the safety of existing street layout with regard to crime occurrence by improving the global integration of the layout.