HOW TO PREVENT CRIME IN A NEW CITY - PROPOSALS FOR A HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN THE COAL MINING TOWN OF GUASARE (VE)

• NCJ Number: 67570
• Author(s): M A JIMENEZ; T A SANTOS
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 113 pages
• Corporate Author: Universidad Del Zulia
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: Spanish
• Country: Venezuela

Annotation

A NEW TOWN TO BE BUILT IN A NEWLY DISCOVERED AND HITHERTO UNINHABITED COAL MINING AREA OF VENEZUELA OFFERS GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLANNING AN IDEAL COMMUNITY, FREE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS.

Abstract

AMONG THE ALMOST UTOPIAN POSSIBILITIES OFFERED BY A BRAND NEW ENVIRONMENT OF THIS TYPE, WHERE RICH NATURAL RESOURCES AND FULL EMPLOYMENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY PREVENT SLUMS AND POVERTY FROM THE START, IS THE ABSENCE OF THE CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH CITIES, SUCH AS OVERCROWDING AND BLEAK, DECAYING NEIGHBORHOODS. PLANNERS MUST TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION FORSEEABLE PROBLEMS INSEPARABLE FROM BOOMING AREAS, WHICH ATTRACT UNDESIRABLE ELEMENTS, SUCH AS PROSTITUTES, PIMPS, SWINDLERS, AND ESTABLISHMENTS SUCH AS BROTHELS, GAMBLING HOUSES, AND TAVERNS. THE FORMER CAN BE CONTROLLED BY POLICE AND THE LATTER CAN BE KEPT OUT BY A TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN WHICH LEAVES NOTHING TO CHANCE. THE PARTICULAR REGION OF VENEZUELA WHERE THE NEW COAL MINING TOWN WILL BE BUILT HAS PROBLEMS OF ITS OWN. IT IS SITUATED NEAR THE COLOMBIAN BORDER, IT ATTRACTS FOREIGN WORKERS AS WELL AS ILLEGAL ALIENS, AND WHERE IT IS ALREADY SETTLED, IT IS PLAGUED WITH THE HIGHEST CRIME RATE IN VENEZUELA. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE TOWN'S POPULATION WILL BE PREDOMINANTLY MALE, YOUNG, AND SINGLE, AND VULNERABLE TO THE ENTICEMENTS OF PROSTITUTES, ALCOHOL, DRUGS. TOWN PLANNING SHOULD ENCOMPASS CRIME PREVENTION FEATURES SUCH AS PREVENTION CLUBS FOR JUVENILES WITH BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS, TOTALLY SEPARATED FROM SOCIAL CENTERS FOR ADULTS WITH IDENTIFIABLE SIMILAR PROBLEMS, WHERE THEY CAN BE OFFERED TREATMENT, COUNSELING, AND SUPERVISED RECREATION IN A PLEASANT ATMOSPHERE. CRIMINAL LAWS WRITTEN IN A CLEAR, EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE LANGUAGE, CONSISTENTLY AND EQUITABLY ENFORCED BY A WELL-TRAINED POLICE FORCE, BOTH CONTROL - AND PREVENTION-ORIENTED, MUST BE RECOGNIZED AS PRIORITY NEEDS FROM THE START. THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE NEW CITY WILL BE ENHANBCED BY SPACIOUS AND COMFORTABLE COOPERATIVE HOUSING FACILITIES, CIVIC CENTERS, THEATERS, MOVIE HOUSES, PUBLIC LIBRARIES, PARKS, GARDENS, AND OPEN SPACES, ALL PART OF A TOTALLY PEOPLEORIENTED ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS APPENDED. --IN SPANISH.