Do estate-level characteristics generate unsafety? : Examining neighborhood and estate characteristics influence on perceived residential safety in Gothenburg

Abstract: Do estate and neighborhood characteristics influence perceptions of safety? Using data from a survey of residents living in municipal housing in Gothenburg, this paper argues that the spatial and social characteristics of a neighborhood vastly outpace the role of its socioeconomic and demographic composition, when it comes to accounting for the perceived safety of its residents. The dataset consists of survey data on residents’ perception of safety from 2013-2014 and 2016-2021 in Gothenburg linked with sociodemographic data at an estate level. This allows us to examine the effects of neighborhood and estate characteristics on perceived safety. We compare two different indices of safety and conceptualize safety as residential safety, which is then analyzed using statistical models. The study employs a combined estate and year fixed effect model with estate clustering and robust standard errors to strengthen the causal identification between the relationships and the robustness of the results. The study finds strong support for neighborhoods’ social and spatial characteristics such as contact with neighbors and the level of streetlights to influence individuals’ perception of safety. Weaker support is also established for the safety level to be affected by the socioeconomic composition in the area and the estate. These findings indicate that the social cohesion in a neighborhood and the spatial organization are important factors in increasing residential safety.