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104Urban crime and violenceInitiatives to reducecrime and violenceare likely to be ofhelp to the city as asocial and economicentity by addressingone of the mainbarriers that it facesYoung peopleneed to haveopportunities forthem to participatein, and to contributeto, society that offerthem betteralternatives thana life of crimeaccepts as a fundamental principle that young peopleare more likely to be comfortable with, and respondpositively to, attempts at mediation by other youngpeople rather than adults.• Peaceable classroom and peaceable school: theseapproaches incorporate conflict resolution within thecore subjects of the curriculum and within classroomand institutional management processes. An importantfeature of approaches of this nature is that they seek toinvolve everyone connected with the unit of managementin question (e.g. individual class or whole school),irrespective of their roles. Peaceable school approacheschallenge both youth and adults to act on theunderstanding that a diverse, non-violent society is arealistic goal. 82The US Office of Juvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention summarized the experience of applying theseapproaches in 1997 as follows:Most conflict resolution and peer mediationprograms, an estimated 7500 to 10,000, havebeen implemented in our nation’s elementary,middle and high schools. However, conflictresolution programs are also a meaningfulcomponent of safe and violence-free juvenilejustice facilities, alternative educationprograms, and community mobilization effortsto combat violence. 83During recent years in the US, there have been cases ofarmed individuals (including students) gaining entry toschool grounds and killing or injuring staff and pupils.Typically, this has caused school authorities to revisit issuesof school security in order to make entry of this kind moredifficult, often including the application of the principles ofCPTED. 84 Thus, strategies of this nature can often co-existalongside the application of non-violent methods of conflictresolution both inside schools and in their surroundingcommunities.It is probably fair to say that compared with many ofthe other policy responses discussed in the chapter, this oneis still in its infancy in terms of its application to issues ofcrime and violence. But the evidence from American experiencesuggests that it has much to offer as an element in therange of responses. For example, an evaluation of the NewMexico Centre for Dispute Resolution’s Youth CorrectionsMediation Programme found that the recidivism rate amongyouth trained as mediators was 18 per cent lower during thefirst six months after returning to the community than for acontrol group not trained in mediation. 85Strengthening social capitalElements of approaches to the strengthening of social capitalcan be found in many of the discussions of other policyresponses since this seems to be a very common factor incrime prevention programmes that combine several of theseapproaches. This is particularly the case because theapproach adopted earlier in this chapter to the definition ofsocial capital is a broad-based one. It is not only aboutimproving the ability of groups and communities to respondpositively to problems of crime and violence, but is alsoabout the creation of community assets that assist with theseprocesses. More broadly still, it can also be argued that theeconomic prospects of cities, the social welfare of theircitizens, and the safety of the public realm are interrelated.Initiatives to reduce crime and violence are likely tobe of help to the city as a social and economic entity byaddressing one of the main barriers that it faces. Similarly,measures to improve what the city offers its residents andusers in terms of education, employment, sporting andcultural activities are likely to be helpful in tackling crimeand violence because they improve opportunities to participatepositively in the life of the city, and offer positivelifestyle alternatives to individuals. This approach is reflectedin UN-Habitat’s Global Campaign on Urban Governance,which takes as its theme the idea of the inclusive city, whereall urban inhabitants, regardless of economic means, gender,race, ethnicity or religion, are able to participate fully in thesocial, economic and political opportunities that cities haveto offer.A particular feature of efforts to improve social capitalin many of the case examples is the use of this approach toaddress issues of youth crime. This is very visible in theToronto programmes summarized in Box 4.7, where there isa strong emphasis on employment, on appropriate trainingand on work experience. It is also evident in the Diademacase, through educational opportunities and participation incultural activities. 86 The argument in both cases is essentiallythe same: young people need to have opportunities forthem to participate in, and to contribute to, society that offerthem better alternatives than a life of crime. Therefore,investing in the creation of these opportunities for youngpeople is also investing in the future welfare of the city andits citizens. It is also envisaged that this will develop thewillingness in these individuals as adults to contributepositively to the welfare of their communities in the future.There are several examples in individual UN-HabitatSafer City Programmes that can be seen as including thecreation of social capital. These include:• Durban, where urban renewal efforts have concentratedon areas with the highest rates of poverty, unemploymentand violent crime, with several projects in theseareas that provide employment opportunities for localyouth; 87• Dar es Salaam, where pilot projects have includedemployment creation and skills training for youth; 88 and• Support for street lighting initiatives, as well as forimprovement of community and recreation facilities inslums (Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Douala).There can be little doubt about the importance of activitiesof this nature because they address some of the underlyingcauses of crime and violence in cities by offering youths abetter alternative. But it is also clear that efforts of thisnature can be financially demanding, involve a wide range of