Banca de DEFESA: Caroline Cardoso Machado

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : Caroline Cardoso Machado
DATE: 10/11/2025
TIME: 08:30
LOCAL: videoconferência
TITLE:

Can we walk? Walkability, Fear of Crime and Criminality, an environmental, criminal and psychosocial analysis in Brasília and Florianópolis.

KEY WORDS:

Urban Crime; Fear of Crime; Walkability; Space Syntax; Environmental Criminology; Crime Prevention Urbanism.

PAGES: 278
BIG AREA: Ciências Sociais Aplicadas
AREA: Arquitetura e Urbanismo
SUMMARY:

This dissertation examines the relationship between crime, fear of crime, walkability, and urban form in neighbourhoods of Brasília and Florianópolis, articulating environmental, criminal, and psychosocial dimensions within an interdisciplinary analytical model. Based on the premise that crime is not randomly distributed in space, but rather follows patterns conditioned by urban morphology, social practices, and subjective perceptions of safety, the study seeks to understand how the built environment and individuals’ daily experiences interact in the production of safety or urban vulnerability. The research is structured into four complementary empirical studies. The first investigates the spatial configuration of six case study areas in Brasília and Florianópolis, using space syntax metrics and spatial data from the built environment. The second study analyses the spatial distribution of criminal incidents, identifying hotspots, concentration patterns, and their relationship with local urban features. The third applies a geo-referenced survey to capture perceptions of fear of crime and walkability, exploring how sociodemographic variables (age, gender, length of residence) shape these perceptions. The fourth integrates the previous findings through network modelling and multiple regression, identifying direct, indirect, and interactive effects among space, crime, and perception. The results indicate that urban connectivity emerges as a central variable, acting as a link between configurational structure, criminal occurrences, and perceptions of safety. Regression analysis highlights the relevance of factors such as land-use diversity, maintenance, and image of space, which affect active mobility and residents’ confidence. From a theoretical perspective, the thesis contributes by proposing an integrated approach among environmental criminology, preventive urbanism, and environmental psychology, overcoming fragmented interpretations. From a methodological standpoint, it innovates by combining geospatial data, crime records, and subjective perceptions, offering a replicable model in other urban contexts. In summary, urban crime cannot be understood in isolation, but as the product of interactions among spatial structure, social conditions, and individual perceptions.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - HARTMUT GÜNTHER - UnB
Externa à Instituição - INGRID LUIZA NETO - UCB
Externo à Instituição - Isângelo Senna da Costa - PMDF
Presidente - 1705690 - ROMULO JOSE DA COSTA RIBEIRO
Interno - ***.541.874-** - VALERIO AUGUSTO SOARES DE MEDEIROS - UnB