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b20000

urban planning in other european cities has failed massively the past 20 years. i don’t know about paris but it probably will go the same way. it has become impossible to get around and do anything productive in cities like this. large open spaces have been put in, and urban planners thought it would increase the liveability of these cities. large construction companies have made lots of money with these idiotic projects, and these spaces enabled mugging, theft, harassment, rape and other crimes at night, by certain layers of the population. the narrow streets have furthermore made it difficult for law enforcement and first responders to get to a scene. all of these just for the ego of some idiotic failed architects who joined the government urban planning offices where they can enact and force their ludicrous ego centered plans and visions onto the population, without needing any kind of approval from those who live and work there.

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It seems absolutely outer worldly to want to optimize the layout of a city to prevent crime. Apart from the assumption being quite questionable that there even exists a connection. People live their lives in these things, they need to be optimize for many other factors to produce a environment enabling a the highest quality of living possible, crime is just a small factor. If one would want to present crime there would be plenty of things to do, changing street layouts might move crime a bit, but for sure won’t enable it.

> It seems absolutely outer worldly to want to optimize the layout of a city to prevent crime.

It’s ironic that we’re having this discussion around Paris, a city which was deliberately transformed to make it easier to rule. Although the fear was revolution rather the ordinary crime, under Napoleon III grand boulevards were made to allow troops to maneuver, as well as to break up neighborhoods with too strong a sense of identity. It proved rather effective and was exported all over Europe and the world.

Yes, and now we have a situation in paris where certain neighborhoods impact the safety and well being of the entire city. So maybe all this new hipster urban planning wasn't such a great idea after all.

I have seen it first hand it a major european city I lived in for more than 10 years, so I know there is a connection. Large open squares and spaces, and corners, facilitate hanging around of certain individuals. Also, I think safety and prevention of crime are very important, more important to limiting cars in a city. I'm sure you'll differ in your opinion after getting beaten up, mugged or raped. If there are no open spaces, it becomes much harder for groups of people to gather and because of that, it impedes crime.

You want cities without open spaces? That sounds very depressing to live in. And I don't see how that would reduce crime. If anything, open spaces are easier to police.

i want safety. i want to be able to walk to a restaurant at 8pm without my wife being called a filthy whore. i want to be left alone at a bus stop. i want women to be able to wear boots and short dresses and makeup without getting raped. come to europe, and live there for a while, in a major city. you’ll get what i mean.

I live in Europe. In Amsterdam. I don't get what you mean.

I mean, I get that you don't want your wife being called a filthy whore, I get that you want to be left alone at a bus stop, I get that you want women to dress however they want. I want all of those things too. I just don't see how getting rid of open spaces would accomplish any of that. Are all of these things things that can't happen on narrow streets?

if you live in Amsterdam, I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about. Unless you live outside the city in some upscale neighborhood.

Where I'm originally from, when you call the police, they don't show up. When they arrest the thugs, they're back out in a few days. Your freedom and safety are not guaranteed. In the US, my experience has been very different.

Not having open spaces will not prevent all this, but open spaces facilitate this sort of stuff.

I live in the city. In a pretty decent neighbourhood (Oostelijk Havengebied), but I still don't understand what open spaces have to do with this. We've got tons of open spaces around here, all of them very safe. Police response or lack of it has nothing to do with open spaces.

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