Urban upgrading and levels of interpersonal violence in Cape Town, South Africa: the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading Programme

Background
Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading applies a second-generation
crime prevention through environmental design, which includes built
environment interventions alongside social programmes and community
participation initiatives. We assessed the association between the
intervention and reported experience of violence in Khayelitsha, one of
South Africa's poorest and most violent suburbs.
Method
We conducted a retrospective population-based study using survey data
from 3625 geo-located households collected between 2013 and 2015 and
mapped alcohol outlets across the study area. Generalized linear models
helped estimate and compare self-reported experience of violence
adjusting for known confounders, which included area and household
deprivation as well as alcohol outlet density.
Findings
Living in close proximity to the upgraded urban infrastructure was
associated with a 34% reduced exposure to interpersonal violence after
adjusting for confounders. This association was consistent across age and
gender. Access to additional social programmes alongside the urban
upgrading intervention was not associated with further reduction in risk.
Interpretation
The association between urban-upgrading and reduced exposure to
interpersonal violence supports its inclusion among interventions in
national and local crime prevention policies to address social and
structural environments.