Decreasing the possibility of committing crimes in pefestrian underpasses by using Translucent concrete slabs over the path in order to increase the vusibiliy of the spsce

The underpass is one of the best choices when it is dangerous for pedestrians to cross the road even though it may have one big problem if it is not designed properly. Pedestrian underpasses might create dark spaces out of people’s sights, which are suitable for committing crimes. However, thanks to technological developments, it seems there are new solutions to overcome the problem. The hypothesis of this study is that we can use transparent and stable materials for making the road over the underpass, so that by increasing the visibility of the space, there would be fewer opportunities for criminals. This is a descriptive-analytic research in which the data is collected by archival studies and analyzed to reach the aims of the study. The collected information shows the underpasses are usually preferred to overpasses. In addition, it is shown that there are three main strategies in which we can diminish insecurity feelings in underpasses; Visibility, Accessibility and Suitability. This study has a new suggestion to amend the condition by increasing the visibility. Finally the results demonstrate by using strong and transparent materials such as translucent concrete to build the road over the underpass can increase the visibility of the space. That is, when the top side of the underpass is made by translucent materials, the light can penetrate into the space during days, so it will not be a dark and invisible space even without using artificial lights. On the other hand, at nights when there are less people in the space and the lights of the underpass are on, the people inside the space can be seen as dark spots from outside the space. Therefore the space is visible and the possibility of committing crimes decreases.

Keywords:

crime , visibility , transparent materials , pedestrian underpasses