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In the north of Sweden, an effort to banish spaces of fear has created a safe city for women that is now regarded as a paragon of equality -- [Long read] (www.nzz.ch)

submitted 15 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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TLDR

Umeå in northern Sweden is one of Europe's fastest-growing cities, offering a high quality of life despite the long winter's dark and cold.
In surveys, 99% of residents say they feel safe during the day, and 90% of women say they are unafraid to walk alone at night.
Following the trauma of a serial rapist active in the city, authorities have worked hard to eliminate spaces of fear, listening closely to women's needs and concerns in the sphere of public safety.

A look at the statistics casts light into this subarctic darkness: Umeå turns out to be more than just an education hub. The city also occupies top relative positions in terms of its infrastructure, the equality of opportunity, and sustainability. In October 2024, it was named the location in Sweden with the best quality of life. According to the crime statistics, it is the only significant urban center in this country afflicted by gang wars that does not have a neighborhood classified as «vulnerable» by the police.

Within the EU, it is considered a model of sustainable and inclusive urban planning. Fully 99% of residents say they feel safe during the day, regardless of their gender or age. And even at night, almost nine out of 10 women say they are unafraid to walk the streets alone. For comparison: According to the December 2024 survey, about 50% of women in Bern report feeling unsafe at night. In Zurich, 70% of women avoid certain streets and locations after dark.

Something must be different in Umeå. How is it possible to create such a pervasive sense of security in a place where it is constantly dark?

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[+] seven_phone -11 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

This summary is shocking, it just repeats that the place needed to be safer, so they made it safer and now everyone feels safer over and over but they don't say how. From the banish part in the title I would guess they excluded men which is very sad and no real solution, the women are still just forced to hide, they just have a larger place to hide in. What is needed is male education and some way to neutralise the physical threat from men. Maybe complete camera coverage, it is a privacy problem but it would be a strong deterrent if prosecution was guaranteed.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

No. Read the article. Some quotes:

The new underpass at the train station is wide and brightly lit, and has no corners, but has several exits. In Nanna, the city’s largest parking garage, the stairwell can be seen from the outside, and the elevator has glass walls. At night, the buses stop on demand, even between regular stops. The new underpass at the train station is wide and brightly lit, and has no corners, but has several exits. In Nanna, the city’s largest parking garage, the stairwell can be seen from the outside, and the elevator has glass walls. At night, the buses stop on demand, even between regular stops.

Underpasses and parking garages have been redesigned, and parks have been better lit and revitalized. The specialist for inclusion and sustainability says that planners also decided to create more density in the city center. According to surveys, this is where women were harassed the most. Many commercial buildings in the center have now been built higher to include apartments, and new restaurants and common areas have been added. This means that even after closing time, the streets are full of people, and the light from the apartments helps illuminate the streets.

[–] seven_phone -4 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Thanks that is a better summary, it seems to find a workable solution in better visibility which is not so far from what I said about camera surveillance. But even so the only real cure is improved and dedicated male education which I also suggested, nothing I said I thought was misogynistic but a certain sort of mind likes to ape words in a meaningless way. As to the paper I did think about reading it but then I thought about something else, my comment was on the summary.

What is interesting here is the downvoting my comments are getting, smacks of exactly the sort of pack mentality harassment Sweden is seeking to address.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

How is male education helping this issue?

Educated people know better than to harass and rape women.

Those are either dumbfucks you can't educate, or egoistical narcists who think every women wants them

[–] seven_phone -2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

All men can be educated to treat people with respect, to say otherwise is plain misandry but of course calling that out does not virtue signal quite as easily as misogyny. Every word of misandry spoken detracts from your case of misogyny because given freedom the genders are equally prone to those thoughts, understanding that is how it is removed from society.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

No. Just read the article instead of making misogynist assumptions you dork. Big eye roll here as it outlines how not paying attention causes this problem!

It’s about collecting data then responding very effectively with architecture, lighting, civic planning, and transit.

[–] MoonManKipper 4 points 13 hours ago

Read the article - it’s not long