University Report: Crime and Housing in Urban African Settings

This report summarizes an article focusing on crime and violence in urban Africa, emphasizing the impact of housing design on crime rates. The author argues that incorporating specific building materials and upgrading housing infrastructure can reduce crime, particularly in vulnerable areas. The study highlights the role of hyper-permeable materials and their influence on crime prevention, referencing the principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). The research indicates that improved housing conditions, especially in informal settlements, can decrease the incidence of theft, rape, and other violent crimes, particularly benefiting women and children. While acknowledging the importance of housing, the author also stresses that reducing crime requires addressing broader social, economic, and political factors. The report references several studies that support these findings, including those on housing and urbanization in Africa, and the impact of formal housing sector reform.

Running head: SUMMARY OF AN ARTICLE ON CRIME IN URBAN AFRICA
Summary of an article in urban Africa
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1SUMMARY OF AN ARTICLE ON CRIME IN AFRICA
The article being summarized, emphasizes on reducing the crimes and violent situations
that the urban people of Africa face. According to the author, the crime scenes can be diminished
by incorporation and implementation of materialistic change in the houses (Meth 2017). The use
of varied materials that have a hyper-permeability is essential to be implemented in the crime
prone zones. The primary aim of the paper is to deduce an inference on the materials that can be
used and provide a literature of global South for the Crime Prevention through Environmental
Design (CPTED). It also highlights the degree at which the materialistic change can affect the
crime and violence in Africa. The paper has also explored the qualities of materials that are being
used for informal housing by considering the hyper-permeability of the elements. The
importance of upgrading houses around the vicinities under consideration, is also covered under
the paper. The people are much more vulnerable to violence and crime when have a poor
housing infrastructure (Patel 2013). The improvement procedure that has been implemented in
the setup has also been partially tested. The experiences of the women and children is improved
largely by betterment of the elements used for building houses as it decreases the chances of
theft, rape and attacks on several levels (Collier and Venables 2014). The house holds that have
females as head are more vulnerable to the factors discussed, use of upgraded housing elements
reduces such chances (Daniel et al. 2016). The setup that is under the author’s focus has been
found to be under upgradation, although it is not seen in all areas. Theft in informal housing
setups is seen to be less defensible than the formal ones. Several infrastructures that have been
upgraded has also been analyzed by the author of the paper. Installation of burglar guards were
found to improve visibility in the vicinities, this inculcation facilitated proper surveillance in the
crime prone areas of the country (Collier, Collier and Venables 2014). Prior to the findings, the

2SUMMARY OF AN ARTICLE ON CRIME IN AFRICA
author came to the conclusion that eradication of the violent scenario in Africa is not possible
only by implementation of upgraded housing materials. Violence is influenced by a wider range
of factors like politics, economy, and several other social factors and hence these factors should
also be improved.

3SUMMARY OF AN ARTICLE ON CRIME IN AFRICA
References:
Collier, P. and Venables, A.J., 2014. Housing and urbanization in Africa: Unleashing a formal
market process.
Collier, P., Collier, P. and Venables, A. (2014). Housing and Urbanization in Africa.
Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Daniel, M.M., Wapwera, S.D., Omogor, C.O. and Olutunde, E.S., 2016. Formal Housing Sector
Reform in Neoliberal Nigeria. International Journal of Built Environment and
Sustainability, 3(3).
Meth, P., 2017. Informal housing, gender, crime and violence: The role of design in urban South
Africa. The British Journal of Criminology, 57(2), pp.402-421.
Patel, K., 2013. A successful slum upgrade in Durban: A case of formal change and informal
continuity. Habitat International, 40, pp.211-217.