Investigation of fear of crime in city centers: Besiktas sample

Physical and social structures of urban spaces can cause them to turn into crime areas or areas that can create fear of crime. "Crime" and "fear of crime" concepts are significant urban problems that affecs quality of life in cities. The need for personal security and protection from crime issues are very important to be considered when planning and designing urban areas. In the case of fear of crime, individuals may react in different ways and also preferences to use of space may be affected in different ways depending on their gender roles. Aim of the thesis is to identify and explain factors that cause fear of crime, which is as important as the crime itself, in city centers that are transformed into crime places due to urbanization and examine the differentiation of fear of crime due to gender. . In order to carry out this aim first of all, the concept of crime, the fear of crime, the sense of insecurity have been theoretically explained to understand the basic concepts. After that, a literature research was conducted to explain the relationship between fear of crime and city, and also the relationship between gender and fear of crime. Later, a sampling study on this subject was carried out. Beşiktaş district was chosen as the study area based on researches on fear of crime in the districts of Istanbul. Questionnarie method and space syntax method were used to carry out the study.