Public Space — Space Control — Public Safety: The Effectiveness of CCTV

Abstract

Security and a sense of security are both determining factors of everyday comfort. However, perceptions of fear and learnt associations (i.e., where and of what and whom one is afraid) may distort our perspective of urban security and may complicate the choice of reasonable security measures. Nonetheless, according to critical theorists, reasonability regarding to measures of security is crucial when it comes to public space, as public space is an indispensable component of democracy that cannot be maintained either without regulations or with its over-securitization and the excessive presence of the state. CCTV cameras have been one of the most widespread tools in international policy making that have been favoured especially in urban areas without critical reflection over the last couple of decades and continues to be a rarely questioned element of urban security strategies. Their numbers continue to grow, and their implementation enjoys significant national funds internationally—and in Hungary in particular—regardless of the lack of impact assessment that would support the burgeoning of this expensive tool. Embedded in the international public-space discourse, this paper aims to highlight some of the pitfalls of impact assessment analysis of CCTV installations by drawing on data from a few districts of Budapest. This study also aims to make some suggestions for the development of relevant impact assessment.