Minimizing the gender difference in perceived safety: Comparing the effects of urban back alley interventions

Urban alleys are perceived as unsafe, especially by women. We conducted a photograph-questionnaire survey to examine gender difference in perceived safety of alley scenes. Photograph simulation technology was used to create three categories of intervention scenes: Cleaning, Vegetation, and Urban Function & Vegetation. For the existing (Baseline) and Cleaning scenes, perceived safety remained low for both genders, though men's perceived safety was significantly higher than women's. Vegetation scenes were perceived as moderately safe for both genders, but men's ratings were still significantly higher. For Urban Function & Vegetation scenes, perceived safety was high for both genders, and the gender difference largely disappeared. Geometric vegetation yielded higher perceived safety than naturalistic vegetation for both genders. These findings provide clear evidence to support the efforts of policy makers, environmental designers, and community associations seeking to create safe and vital back alley environments for men and women in high-density cities across the world.