ST 1 FEAR OF CRIME AND RESIDENTIAL FORTIFICATION IN BRAZIL

Resumo

High walls and tall security fences. Bars and security grills protruding from windows. Walls surrounding individual homes lined with shards of broken glass bottles. Barbed wire. These defensive elements, highly visible in the everyday built environment of Brazil, influence the thoughts and perceptions of passersby. They create a sense of anomie and isolation, ultimately restricting one’s ability to move about freely in the city and its public spaces. The feelings of insecurity and lack of safety, along with the fear of crime (or perception of it) is not unique to just tourists or foreigners, but it is something Brazilians experience as part of caldeira heir daily lives. The proliferation of walls and high-security gated communities in Brazil and other countries of Latin America is evidence of the prevailing fear of crime felt by residents in urban areas.