Creating Safe Community Gathering Spaces in South Africa

Craig Raphael
Jul 20, 2010
Dec 14, 2017

One of the most important elements of any public space is safety. When spaces are physically unsafe or perceived to be so, they do not draw the people necessary to make them vibrant and successful. But by embracing community engagement in the planning process, public spaces can best accommodate the needs and concerns of their users, thereby creating an environment that is most likely to succeed.

Creating safe public spaces in poor and disadvantaged communities is a special challenge, but their power to revitalize communities is no less great. This is one of the primary goals of PPS Vice President Cynthia Nikitin's upcoming trip to South Africa, where she has been invited by the UN Habitat: Safer Cities program to participate in various workshops and forums related to public spaces and safety.

Youth playing soccer in South Africa
Youth playing soccer in South Africa. Photo credit: Development Works Photos, Flickr

Cynthia will travel to Johannesburg to participate in an Expert Group Meeting, convened by UN-HABITAT’s program in Youth Empowerment and Safer Cities, that will evaluate sports as a tool for youth development and safety. Thereafter, she will  facilitate a workshop for fifty learners from poor communities in Johannesburg who will share their experience of sports, sporting events and unsafety in their communities, with the goal of proposing ways to integrate sports for safety and urban upgrading.

For more information on Cynthia's trip, please do not hesitate to contact her.

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Heading One

Heading Two

Heading Three

Heading Four

Heading Five
Heading Six

Body Text    Body Link

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Here is some highlighted text from the article.
Caption
Caption
Caption
Caption

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

  • Bulleted List Item 1 Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
  • Bulleted List Item 2 Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
  1. Ordered List Item 1
  2. Ordered List Item 2
Comments
Related Articles

Contact Us

Want to unlock the potential of public space in your community? Get in touch!