The Laboratory for Comparative Social Research announces the next regular seminar, which will be held in Saint-Petersburg (Sedova st., 55-2, room 303) on October 29 at 18-00 p.m. Marianna Muravyeva (HSE Saint-Petersburg, Professor) and Alexandr Lukoyanov (HSE Saint-Petersburg, MA student) will deliver a report “Territories of Social (dis)Order: criminal landscape and spatial dynamics of St. Petersburg ‘neighbourhoods”. The discussant is Ekaterina Lytkina (LCSR, Junior research fellow).

Contemporary cities have been struggling with a variety of environmental challenges for centuries, crime being one of the leading issues on the agenda. Environmental criminology has developed a set of theories to influence policy makers to introduce intelligent urban design to prevent crime (CPTED), which includes territorial reinforcement, natural surveillance, building and interior design as well as cite design, lightning and social interaction spaces (Brantingham and Brantigham 1991; Crowe 2000). Landscaping and building design can be remodelled to create safe and crime free spaces. In addition, landscapes are on the political agenda as of lately. The main reason is the general observation that the changes in landscapes become extremely devastating, because many new elements and structures are superimposed upon the traditional landscapes that become highly fragmented and lose their identity. New landscapes are created and they are characterised by a functional homogeneity (Antrop 2004). Therefore, there is an inevitable conflict between traditional landscapes and requirements of CPTED, especially in the situations of urban innovations and remodelling of old neighbourhoods that are considered non-safe.  

Criminological, urban design and landscape preservation literature have not paid much attention to the historical aspect of crime and landscapes, that is, why and how old neighbourhoods and historical urban landscapes structure and absorb crime versus new neighbourhood and functionally homogenous landscapes. In this presentation, we would like to examine how historic landscapes through their design influence the distribution and rates of crime, that is, if in old (historic) neighbourhoods crime rates are higher due to old-fashioned urban design and urban landscape and their historical reproduction patterns than in new functional neighbourhoods and how economic and non-economic institutions influence crime distribution.

Everyone interested is invited!

Working language is English.

Guests from St. Petersburg are free to enter the building.

Videoconference with Moscow office of the LCSR (room 511, 22, Myasnitskaya st.) will be provided. Guests are free to enter to the 5th floor from 17:45 till 18:15. For questions: +7-495-772-95-90 extension number 12244.