Crime open data aggregation and management for the design of safer spaces in urban environments

Abstract

This paper describes the major research and development activities which have been achieved so far since the launch of the DESURBS project (www.desurbs.eu) in 2011. The project focuses on the development of a Decision-Support System Portal (DSSP) which integrates information, data and software modules representing city assets, hazards and processing models that simulate exposures to risks and potential compromise to safety and security. The use of the DSSP will aid the design of safer and more resilient urban spaces. Specifically, it provides security related scenarios with contextual information to support various types of users who specialise in urban spatial design and planning. The DSSP is a web enabled system which is also adapted to mobile devices usage. It is supported with geographic maps and visualised aggregated data from a number of heterogeneous sources. A responsive web design which adapts to the resolution of smart mobile devices has also been achieved. That is, low powered mobiles can still provide map oriented data in a responsive fashion, while using multiple platforms (Android and iOS currently). The first DSSP prototype employs the United Kingdom crime statistics feed of year 2012 and analyses crime trends in 13 English Cities (including Greater London) which are distributed into four major-regions. The DSSP displays raw crime data via a marker on a map, while they are aggregated under specific crime type threads and visualised as “heat maps”. The specific visualisations are aligned to the various administrative regions such as neighbourhoods, catchments and postcodes. It also allows users to explore historical crime trends for a region over time, where crime statistics are contrasted. The scalability of the DSSP was also tested under increasingly large datasets and numbers of users, with tested loads on the map server and the main Django user application. The difference in speed between the mobile and desktop interfaces for a defined set of tasks using the application shall also be performed and presented in the near future

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ORCID for Zoheir Sabeur: orcid.org/0000-0003-4325-4871

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