Violence in the City (World Bank)

The first global study on urban violence undertaken by the World Bank, Violence in the City: Understanding and Supporting Community Responses to Urban Violence aims to understand how urban residents cope with violence, or the threat of it, in their everyday lives, to inform the design of policies and programmes for violence prevention. 

Drawing on case studies from urban communities in Brazil (Fortaleza), Haiti (Port-au-Prince), Kenya (Nairobi), South Africa (Johannesburg), and Timor-Leste (Dili), the report makes a number of specific recommendations that focus on creating the basic conditions urban communities need to be able to come together to collectively address violence:

- Changing the style of policing toward a more community-based approach in order to build trust in police forces and improve security; 

- Increasing the focus on building trust and social cohesion by supporting neighborhood associations and community groups and their involvement in management of public spaces in own neighbourhoods;

- Improving transportation and mobility options available for urban populations; 

- Improving data collection to provide police, providers of services and communities with accurate, on time information on violent incidents, to enable better targeting of prevention activities and law enforcement; 

- Engaging urban youth productively in social and environmental initiatives and giving them a voice in local decision making; and 

- Helping municipal government to coordinate actions between various municipal services and to effectively collaborate with regional and state organisations. 

The study was prepared in parallel with the World Development Report 2011 on Conflict, Security and Development.