The effect of elements of landscape architecture on the safety and security of public parks

Abstract

Global research on landscape architecture investigates the perceived safety in parks. This thesis tackles the investigation of the landscape architecture of Al- Azhar Park, Cairo, Egypt. Given that prospects-refuge makes perceived safety perform better, this research focuses on 20 types of prospects concerning the eight factors of perceived safety. This research aims to strengthen the feeling of perceived safety in public parks through landscape imagery by investigating which landscape scenes are most perceived to be safe. Using a multi-choice survey designed using google forms and sent to 200 respondents through social media, the results from IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) statistics show that the types of prospects are essential factors in creating parks' safety. The data were analysed in a quantitative method to conclude forms for the relation between the types of the prospect and the eight factors of perceived safety related to landscape architecture elements. Two schemes of analysing data were used, descriptive statistics and frequency distribution. The concluded remarks highlighted that the panoramic views are preferred and perceived safety among other prospect types. Good maintenance, aesthetics, microclimate, privacy, and entertainment are the most factors associated with perceived safety. Future studies could test the prospect types through qualitative analysis and other parks besides Al-Azhar parks. Keywords: