Are community values vital for safety?
Our capital city is modern, diverse and important – but is it safe? According to the Safe City Index 2015 it is significantly less so than the world’s safest, Tokyo, only reaching 18th place. It also seems to have a weaker sense of community than can be found in Japan. So where are the big differences between Tokyo and London, and what can Britain learn from Japan?
Tokyo is a remarkably clean and tidy city. There’s little graffiti and none of the mess of chewing gum that blights Britain’s pavements. This is arguably quite important to the overall atmosphere in Tokyo, as the Broken Window theory posits that people treat environments worse dependent on the state that they’re in.
People can generally also feel safe going around Tokyo at any time of day or night. The Government’s Foreign Office states that crime levels are low in Japan and that it’s generally safe to walk about at night, though does single out Tokyo’s Roppongi district as a particularly dangerous area. Tellingly, British Nationals are singled out as having been arrested for disputes in the area.
In London, and the UK in general, there seems to be a more negative perception of the streets at night. Perhaps the most evident example of this feeling is the Reclaim the Night marches, which have spread across the country over the last decade as a result of women’s fear of assault at nighttime.
You might be included to argue that a root cause of the problems is community. Japan has a reputation of its citizens having a strong sense of community, a belief that even important bodies like the OECD perpetuate. It is reinforced in the likes of this Houston Chronicle article and this Hawaii News Now story, both reflecting on how Japanese values allowed for a stoic response.
In Britain, however, there is a strong sense of a lack of community. This is reflected in rhetoric, with the phrase and concept of “Broken Britain” frequently repeated by the media and politicians alike. It’s such a popularly thought idea that even the Prime Minister, David Cameron, delivered a speech – available to read in its startling full form on Gov.uk – in which he explicitly labelled Britain’s society as broken.
But it’s not just a few statements masquerading as evidence – there is hard evidence that many people feel there is no longer a sense of community. A BBC commissioned report revealed a massive weakening in the British people’s sense of belonging in 2001 in comparison to 1971
Is there a correlation between community and crime? If you look at the percentage of crimes per country in 2013 compared to the populations, then you might assume so. Japan had 1.32 million crimes, according to the National Policy Agency (The Japan Times) compared to a Government-estimated population of 127.3 million (BBC). This equates to a minute 1%.
Britain’s statistics, whilst not alarming, were expected. There were 3.7 million recorded crimes, as reported in the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This is compared to a population that was just over half that of Japan’s – 64.1 million according to the Office of National Statistics (BBC). This means that the number of crimes made up 5.8% of the population number.
You might assume from these statistics that Japan has less crime because of its values, and you could also argue that Japan’s values give it the perception of being a safe country. It’s natural to assume that a society that is perceived is safe is one that people will be attracted to and will enjoy without fear being an obstacle. It’s therefore worthwhile that we strengthen our communities, as that may well strengthen our country.