Context:

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• Are smart cities safe cities?

• With Melbourne’s booming night economy, increasing homelessness, and alcohol culture, do residents who commute alone feel safe during day and at night?

• What are the gaps in the present Safety Strategies currently in place?

• How can public safety at night in a smart city like Melbourne be strategically managed using smart technology?

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Insights:

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To understand how Melbourne’s urban fabric affects safety at night, two lanes from each class 1, 2, and 3 laneways were studied and Francis St was analyzed. An experimental design project was conducted to understand how human behavior will change with change in the environment. Key takeaway: When built-use contribute to activities, human behavior and response did not change with revitalization. Aesthetic revitalization may not be the go-to solution for a safer environment.

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Qualitative and quantitative analysis through surveys, interviews, questionnaires, observations, area mapping across 25 participants who regularly commute alone in the city at night time. Key takeaway: 77% of the participants feel unsafe in dark and dirty laneways. 'Unpredictable people' were the first reason for feeling unsafe, followed by dirty/smelly laneways. Participants feel safer in streets that had any mode of monitoring-security cameras, people. People tend to keep their phones intact to be in touch with their kin or travel in groups. Time for the police to arrive takes from 20 minutes to an hour or two.

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​Data from Crime Statistics Agency Victoria and analyzing the statistics available helped understand when, what, why, and where crimes are happening in the CBD. Key takeaway: Significant increase in public nuisance offenses recorded over the past 12 months, data recorded June 2018. Drunk and disorderly conduct tops the cases recorded in the CBD. Both offenders and victims are young adults between ages of 20-29. While the number of female offenders is one-third of male offenders, the number of victims, for both, is the same. 

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An interview with the Crime Prevention Office, Victoria Police, was conducted to identify the current safety strategies and deterrents to crimes. Key takeaways: The Safe City Program ensures safety on weekend nights, monitoring public drunkenness and anti-social behavior on the streets. There are gaps in the communication method used to report crimes. Police and cameras are deterrents to crimes but these have blind spots. Due to the lesser number of workforce, responding to non-emergent situations becomes impossible, and the time to reach crime situation is more. 

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Abstract:

 

With the evolution of intelligent devices that work in the background, public spaces become a seamless integration of efficient technologies making interactive exchanges possible in smart cities.

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Eystre, ‘electronic eyes on the street' is a public safety strategy system, in the form of a compact wearable technology, for individuals commuting alone in the night city of Melbourne, Australia. It is a self and civic safety program to deter alcohol-related crimes. It is inspired by Jane Jacob’s concept of having more ‘Eyes on the street’ but using technology. It aims at improving efficiency in communication in the present safety measures.

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Eystre can be worn as a badge, pendant, watch, or attached to your phone. The camera module in Eystre lets you record and evidence of (possible) personal attacks which gets sent to the cloud in real-time and is retrievable later from Victoria Police. It aims at a self-safety and civic-safety community by enabling users to call for help from other Eystre users and the police patrols within a certain geofenced area in case of incidents. The Eystre community in the vicinity can respond and offer help.