Building city in high violence settings: Is it possible? The case of the Honduras Central District
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47741/17943108.30Keywords:
crimes with violence, social factors of criminality, insecurity, urban violence, public space, HondurasAbstract
Is it possible to build city in high violence settings? Analytical frameworks developed by criminology in Latin America have not taken into account contexts of high violence. The objective of this article is to characterize the territorial dynamics of the criminality, violence and insecurity phenomena, and their connection with the process of public space ownership. The citizens’ voice, praised starting from surveys, interviews and focus group, calls for more city. The public space is a place of exchange and security. This includes not only safe transport spaces, but also recreation, rest and even artistic innovation spaces. Urban renewal and public space importance is emphasized in the document, recognizing a smaller probability of gentrification initiatives development, which require investment and consolidation of the symbolic and territorial identity. In spite of the homicides, extortions and neglect by the government, the citizens seem to recognize the substantial issue of the community life: the need of being citizens, instead of being citizens of spaces affected by the precariousness.
Downloads
References
Arias, E. D. & Goldstein, D. M. (2010). Violent democracies in Latin America. Durham: Duke University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822392033
Benz, T. (2014). At the intersection of Urban Sociology and Criminology: Fear of crime and the postindustrial city. Sociology Compass, 8 (1):10-19.
https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12119
Berg, L. A. & Carranza, M. (2018). Organized criminal violence and territorial control: Evidence from northern Honduras. Journal of Peace Research. Recuperado de: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343317752796
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343317752796
Betancur, J. (2014). Gentrification in Latin America: Overview and Critical Analysis, Urban Studies Research, 1: 1-14. Recuperado de: https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/986961.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/986961
Borja, J. (2003). La ciudad conquistada. Madrid: Alianza ensayo.
Briceño-León, R. (2002). La nueva violencia urbana en América Latina, Sociologías, 4 (8): 34-51.
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1517-45222002000200003
Bruneau, T. & L. Dammert (2011). The Dilemma of Fighting Gangs in New Democracies. En: T. Bruneau, L. Dammert & E. Skinner (Eds.). Maras: Gang Violence and Security in Latin America, pp. 43-69. Texas: Texas University Press.
Burns-Howell, T. & Pascoe, T. (2004). Crime prevention evaluation: A realistic framework based on experience and reality, Criminology and Public Policy, 3 (3): 527-534.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2004.tb00059.x
Caldeira, T. (2007). Ciudad de muros. Barcelona: Gedisa.
Cantor, D. J. (2014). The New Wave: Forced Displacement Caused by Organized Crime in Central America and Mexico, Refugee Survey Quarterly, 33 (3): 34-68.
https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdu008
Carrión, F. & Núñez-Vega, J. (2006). La inseguridad en la ciudad: hacia una comprensión de la producción social del miedo. Revista EURE,32 (97): 5-16.
https://doi.org/10.4067/S0250-71612006000300001
Carrión, F. & Mena, J. (2016). Violencias urbanas y convivencia en las ciudades latinoamericanas. La convivencia en las ciudades, Cuaderno de Debate, 4: 17-26.
Chaix, B. (2009). Geographic life environments and coronary heart disease: a literature review, theoretical contributions, methodological updates, and a research agenda. Annual Review of Public Health, 30, 81-105.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.031308.100158
Chaskin, R. J. & Joseph, M. (2013). "Positive" gentrification, social control and the "Right to the city" in mixed income communities: Uses and expectations of space and place. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 37 (2): 480-502.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2012.01158.x
Cozens, P. M. (2002). Sustainable urban development and crime prevention through environmental design for the British City. Towards an effective urban environmentalism for the 21st century. Cities, 19 (2): 129-137.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-2751(02)00008-2
Cruz, J. M. (2016). Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 45 (1): 23-5.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0094306115621526d
Dammert, L. (2001). Construyendo ciudades inseguras: temor y violencia en Argentina, Revista EURE, 27 (82): 5-20.
https://doi.org/10.4067/S0250-71612001008200001
Dammert, L. (2013). Crimen, inseguridad y política. Desafíos para la democracia en Chile. Santiago: RIL Editores.
Felson, M. (2008). Routine Activities Approach. En: R. Wortley & L. Mazzerole (Eds.). Enviromental Criminology and Crime Analysis. London: Devon Press.
Florida, R. (2016). New urban crisis. Nueva York: Basic Books.
Gerell, M. & Kronkvist, K. (2016). Violent Crime, Collective Efficacy and City-Centre Effects in Malmö. British Journal of Criminology, 57:1185-1207.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azw074
Girola, M. F., Yacovino, M. P. & Laborde, S. (2011). Recentrando la centralidad: procesos de recualificación urbana y espacio público en la ciudad de Buenos Aires desde una perspectiva etnográfica. Cuaderno Urbano: Espacio, Cultura y Sociedad, 10: 25-40.
https://doi.org/10.30972/crn.1010574
Hiskey, J., Malone, M. & Orces, D. (2014). Violence and Migration in Central America, Americas. Barometer Insights, 101. Recuperado de: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/insights/IO901en.pdf
Human Right Watch (2017). Informe Mundial 2017. Recuperado de: https://www.hrw.org/es/world-report/2017
INE-Honduras (2016). Encuesta Nacional de Hogares,2016. Recuperado de: http://www.ine.gob.hn/
Insight Crime (2015). Maras y pandillas en Honduras, USAID. Recuperado de: http://www.insightcrime.org/images/PDFs/2015/MarasHonduras.pdf
Insight Crime (2016). What's Behind Honduras' 30% Drop in Murder Rates? Recuperado de: http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/whatbehind-honduras-30-percent-drop-murderrates
IUDPAS (2015). Percepción ciudadana sobre inseguridad y victimización en Honduras 2014, Tegucigalpa, marzo.
IUDPAS (2018). Boletines del Distrito Central. Enero diciembre. Observatorio Local de la Violencia del Distrito Central. Recuperado de: https://blogs.unah.edu.hn/iudpas/boletin-nacionalenero-a-diciembre-2017
Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House.
Janoschka, M. (2016). Gentrificación, desplazamiento, desposesión: procesos urbanos claves en América Latina. Revista INVI, 31(88): 27-71.
https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-83582016000300002
Janoschka, M., Sequera, J. & Salinas, L. (2014). Gentrification in Spain and Latin America. A critical dialogue. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38 (4): 1234-65.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12030
Jütersonke, O., Muggah, R. & Rodgers, D. (2009). Gangs, urban violence, and security interventions in Central America. Security Dialogue, 40: 373.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010609343298
Koonings, K. & Kruijt, D. (2015). Violence and Resilience in Latin American Cities. London: Zed Books.
Le Clercq, J., Cháidez, A. & Rodríguez, G. (2016). Midiendo la impunidad en América Latina: retos conceptuales y metodológicos. Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 55: 69-91.
https://doi.org/10.17141/iconos.55.2016.1934
Mateo, J. (2011). Street Gangs of Honduras. En: T. Bruneau, L. Dammert & E. Skinner (Eds.) Maras: Gang Violence and Security in Latin America, pp. 43-69. Texas University Press.
Marzbali, M, H. & Abdullah, A. (2011). A review of the effectiveness of crime prevention by design approaches towards sustainable development. Journal of Sustainable Development, 4 (1): 160-172.
https://doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v4n1p160
Mazza, A. (2009). Ciudad y espacio público. Las formas de la inseguridad urbana. Cuadernos de Investigación Urbanística, 62. Recuperado de: http://polired.upm.es/index.php/ciur/article/view/278
Mc Evoy, C. & Hideg, G. (2017). Global Violent Deaths 2017. Time to Decide. Ginebra: Small Arms
Natarajan, M. & Clarke, R., Carcach, C., Ponce, C., Beneke, M., Polanco, D. et al. (2015). Situational prevention and public transport crime in El Salvador. Crime Science, 4: 29.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-015-0043-4
Newman, O. (1973). Defensible Space. New York: MacMillan.
Policía Nacional (2016). Sistema Estadístico Policial en Línea (SEPOL). Recuperado de: https://www.sepol.hn/index.php
Raderstorf, B., Wilson, C. J., Zechmeister, E. J. & Camilleri, M. J. (2017). Beneath the violence: How insecurity shapes daily life and emigration in Central America. Report of the Latin American Public Opinion Project and the Inter-American. The Dialogue.Rule of Law Workin Paper. Recuperado de: https://www.thedialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Crime-Avoidance-ReportFINAL-ONLINE.pdf
Ridenour, C. S. & Newman, I. (2008). Mixed Methods Research: Exploring the Interactive Continuum. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Rodgers, D. (2004). "Disembedding" the city: crime,insecurity and spatial organization in Managua, Nicaragua. Environment and Urbanization, 16 (2): 113-123.
https://doi.org/10.1630/0956247042309900
Sabatini, F. & Brain, I. (2008). La segregación, los guetos y la integración social urbana: mitos y claves. Revista EURE, 34 (103): 5-26.
https://doi.org/10.4067/S0250-71612008000300001
Sampson, R., Raudenbush, S. W. & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277: 918-924.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5328.918
Sánchez, A., Sánchez, J. & Ropaín, M. (2015). Violencia y seguridad ciudadana: una mirada desde la perspectiva de género, Tegucigalpa: ONU Mujeres.
Shaw, C. & McKay, H. (1942). Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1334446
Smith, C. (2014). The influence of Gentrification in gang homicides in Chicago neighborhoods, 1994 to 2005. Crime & Delinquency, 60 (4): 569-591.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128712446052
Smith, W. C. (2013). Hurricane Mitch and Honduras: An illustration of population vulnerability. International Journal on Health System Disaster Manage, 1: 54-58.
https://doi.org/10.4103/2347-9019.122460
Sosa Caballero, C. M. (2012). Descripción de la infraestructura cultural y recreativa en la ciudad del Distrito Central de Honduras. Estudios Espaciales. 5 (1): 34-46.
https://doi.org/10.5377/ce.v5i1.2537
Stevenson, G. (1996). Defensible space: a critical review on the theory and practice of a crime prevention strategy. Urban Design International, 1(3): 235-245.
https://doi.org/10.1080/135753196351010
Swatt, M. L., Varano, S. P., Uchida, C. D & Salomon, S. E. (2013). Fear of crime, incivilities and collective efficacy in four Miami neighborhoods, Journal of Criminal Justice, 41(1):1-12.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2012.09.004
UNODC (2013). Global Study on Homicide, Vienna: United Nations.Vormann, B. (2015). Toward an infrastructural critique of urban change. City, 19 (2-3): 356-364.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2015.1018062
Vriniotis, M. (2015). Victimization surveys 101: recommendations for funding and implementing a victimization survey, Technical Note IDB, 866. Washington, D.C.
https://doi.org/10.18235/0000156
Wacquant, L. (2007). Condenados de la ciudad. Gueto, periferias y Estado. Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI.
Warner, B. D., Clubb, W. & Clubb, A. C. (2013). Neighboorhod ties, control and crime. En: T. Cullen & P. Wilcox (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Criminological Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199747238.013.0017
Weerman, F. M., Lovegrove, P. J. & Thornberry, T. (2015). Gang membership transitions and its consequences: Exploring changes related to joining and leaving gangs in two countries. European Journal of Criminology 12 (1): 70-91.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370814539070
Wilson, W. (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass and Urban Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wolf, S. (2011). Street Gangs of El Salvador. En: T. Bruneau, L. Dammert & E. Skinner (Eds.). Maras: Gang Violence and Security in Latin America, pp. 43-69. Texas: Texas University Press.
Wolf, S. (2012). Mara Salvatrucha: The Most Dangerous Street Gang in the Americas? Latin American Politics and Society, 54 (1): 65-99.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2012.00143.x
Zelaya, M. (2015). Fragmentación y segregación urbana en el Distrito Central, Honduras. Argonautas y caminantes: Revista de Población y Desarrollo, 11: 85-96.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Licencia creative commons CC BY NC ND https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/