Examining the usage of city walls for wall chalking: cases from Karachi, Pakistan

Morphological Characteristics and Fear of Crime: A Case of Public Spaces in the Global North and South

“…According to Castellón (1978), graffiti, in general, is seen as a reflection of a particular culture and aspirations of society; however, in the Karachi case, an extreme surplus of wall chalking is providing cues of 'broken windows' (Wilson and Kelling, 1982) to the criminal mind people that no one is responsible for the area. Ahmed and Ahmed (2020) argued that wall chalking, and graffiti are a means to understand the local community, which can, in turn, be used to design and develop inclusive spaces. There is limited literature documentation on this means of communication in the global South.…”

“…There is limited literature documentation on this means of communication in the global South. The messages communicated through these public walls should be considered alternative and passive means of communication, rather than being viewed as an offense and criminal activity (Ahmed and Ahmed, 2020).…”

“…How we assemble these large building blocks of routine activity into the urban backcloth can have an enormous impact on our fear levels. Several other factors in the physical environment are described as relevant to the fear of crime, for instance, abandoned cars (Braga and Bond, 2008;Wilson and Kelling, 1982), block watch signs (Schweitzer et al, 1999), vegetation (Iqbal and Ceccato, 2016;Kou and Sullivan, 2001;Wolfe and Mennis, 2012), street lighting (Steinbach et al, 2015), graffiti and litter (Ahmed and Ahmed, 2020;Iqbal and Ceccato, 2016;Iseki, and Thurlow, 2001;Ley and Cybriwsky, 1974;Loukaitou-Sideris, Liggett, 2001).…”