Anna Minton

Although I agree with the thesis of this book and it makes some good points, I cannot help but wish it was a bit better written. The style grated with me as it included a number of habits that I’ve trained myself to avoid. Examples include frequent references to other sections (‘As described in chapter 7...’), repetitiousness, and use of anecdotal evidence whilst condemning others for doing so. Moreover, the author is clearly not versed in planning and thus does not explain legal show more concepts like Section 106 agreements properly. Whilst it is fair to say that planning jargon is obscure, sometimes wilfully so, this situation is not improved by vague and woolly definitions. Essentially, this could be a great book with better editing; as it is, I can only call it OK.

Griping aside, the key point conveyed by the rambling narrative is an important one. Despite consistent falls in UK crime levels, fear of crime has been growing. Most people simply do not believe that crime rates are falling, despite having little or personal experience of being a victim of crime. The media obviously have a large share of the blame for this trend, as violent crimes and those against children are reported in an incredibly sensationalised manner that deliberately raises fear. (Incidentally, have you noticed how many newspaper headlines include the word ‘fears’? It really does seem like a lot.) In addition, though, this book argues that the nature of the built environment feeds insecurities by creating separation and suspicion between groups of people. Minton argues that gated developments and privatised spaces, which are designed to be secure, feed feelings of fear and insecurity. Being surrounded by gates makes one feel as though there is some threat outside to justify them, as it were. She places part of the blame on the police and their ‘Secure by Design’ guidelines. This is an intriguing addition to the list of parties to blame for the current poor state of the UK urban fabric, as bemoaned in [a:Owen Hatherley|2871671|Owen Hatherley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1445556151p2/2871671.jpg]’s oeuvre.

Published in 2009, this is very much a book of its time. It is highly critical of New Labour policies on housing, planning, crime, and social security. Without exception, the coalition government have since changed policies to make things considerably worse. In each case, the opposite of Minton’s recommendations have been followed. Social housing has been defunded and its security of tenure undermined, house building targets have been abandoned, benefits cut, planning weakened even further, and local authority funding severely reduced. Meanwhile, the coalition government has cynically stoked antipathy to marginalised groups such as the disabled, asylum seekers, and the unemployed. Thus we can hardly expect the fear of crime to subside, despite crime levels (especially heavily-reported violent crimes) continuing to fall: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/24/crime-rate-england-wales-falls-lo...

I cannot resist ending this review with a cliché, because the topic really cries out for it: we have nothing to fear except fear itself. show less