I Invite You to My Street
Community activation to combat the perception of insecurity and reclaim neighborhood life.
Place
Coquimbo, Chile
Year
2018
Objectives
To reduce the gap between the perception of insecurity and actual crime rates by intervening in the residents' sense of fear.
To foster the "eyes on the street" strategy, encouraging people to inhabit their plazas and sidewalks to generate natural, community-based surveillance.
To transform critical streets into gathering spaces through activities that invite citizens to safely re-appropriate their surroundings.
To strengthen social cohesion, creating bonds of trust among residents to improve neighborhood resilience and mutual care.
Methodology
The project is based on social reactivation through low-cost, high-impact tactical actions:
Perception Diagnosis: Identifying critical zones where residents have stopped passing through due to fear or a lack of stimuli.
Programmed Community Activations: Organizing events (games, fairs, workshops) that act as catalysts for people to leave their homes and "open up" the street.
Designing Inviting Environments: Implementing small physical improvements (lighting, playful painting, furniture) that eliminate the sense of abandonment and attract diverse groups, from children to seniors.
Promotion of Intensive Space Use: Strategies to diversify the times and types of use for the plaza or street, ensuring there are always "eyes" present on-site.
Clients / Partners
Driven by: Ciudad Emergente.
Strategic Allies: Neighborhood councils, local community organizations, and municipalities interested in social crime prevention.
Results & Impact
Increase in Social Capital: Residents reported greater mutual acquaintance and a willingness to collaborate on neighborhood security issues.
Fear Reduction: The activations demonstrated that by increasing positive pedestrian flow, the sense of isolation and danger decreases significantly.
Public Space Recovery: Locations that were previously avoided became epicenters of neighborhood activity, displacing negative uses of the space.
Model Validation: The initiative served as a prototype to demonstrate that public safety is strengthened when police surveillance is complemented by urban livability.
Conclusions
I Invite You to My Street confirms that the greatest antidote to fear is an organized community. Recognizing that insecurity grows in a vacuum of activity, Ciudad Emergente proposes filling the streets with life so they can become safe again. The key lesson is that when we "invite" a neighbor to the street, we are not just conducting a social activity; we are building a human and empathetic barrier that reclaims the city for those who actually inhabit it.