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This open access book paves the way for transformative strategies that increase the role of railway stations and other related transit environments in contributing to the global goals for sustainable development (the UN s sustainability goals in Agenda 2030). Drawing on insights from a Swedish case, this book adopts a systems thinking approach to investigate how environments impact transit safety and provide strategies to address the diverse safety needs of users. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, including field inspections, analysis of official data, questionnaire surveys, and interviews. These data sources are analysed using statistical techniques, GIS mapping, and regression modelling. Building on these findings, the book also critically examines how future railway station designs are currently being planned to enhance accessibility and safety. This book answers the following questions: Why are certain station environments perceived as more unsafe than others, even though fewer crimes are committed there? Why do different groups of travelers differ about victimization and safety? From a governance perspective, what would make these places safer? What are the patterns of victimization of vulnerable groups, such as women and individuals with disabilities? The findings have international resonance as this book demonstrates the connection between safety and sustainability, offering useful insights and recommendations for researchers, practitioners and policymakers committed to shaping safer, more inclusive transit environments.
List of contents
Foreword.- Chapter 1 - Stations in cities: An introduction.- Chapter 2 - Safety in stations: Theory and practices.- Chapter 3 - Making stations safer: A conceptual framework.- Chapter 4 Study area and research design.- Chapter 5 - Crime in and around the station.- Chapter 6 Temporal variations of safety perceptions at and on the way to the stations.- PART II - Cross-sectional perspectives.- Chapter 7 - The role of the design and environment of the stations.- Chapter 8 - Mapping Safety: Understanding crime and socio-economic contexts surrounding train stations.- Chapter 9 Safe havens or isolated spots? Crime and safety in rural train stations.- Chapter 10 Safety from the perspective of users: Women and LGBQTI s perspective of the station.- Chapter 11 When travel makes you sick! Women s asthma and allergy experiences on trains.- Chapter 12 - Inclusive transit: Accommodating disabilities in train travel.- Chapter 13 - Place managers and the organisation of public transportation hubs: Sweden, UK.- PART III The governance of stations in the city.- Chapter 14 Making stations inclusive and safer.- Chapter 15 Planning for new stations in the city.- Chapter 16 - Recommendations for research and practice.- Appendices.
About the author
Vania Ceccato is a professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Environment, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. She is the head of the UCS—Urban & Community Safety Research Group and the coordinator of the Safeplaces network. She is interested in the relationship between the environment and safety. Her research is primarily on the geography of crime and fear in urban and rural environments; transit safety, the intersectionality of safety and safety governance. She is the author/editor of several books on transit safety and related subjects (Safety on the move, 2013; Safety and Security in Transit Environments, 2015; and Transit Crime and Sexual Violence in Cities: International Evidence and Prevention, 2020; Crime and fear in public places: Towards safe, inclusive and sustainable cities, 2020; Systems Thinking for Sustainable Crime Prevention: Planning for Risky Places, 2024); Crime, people and places: Perspectives on rural safety and justice, 2025).
Catherine Sundling is a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Södertörn University in Huddinge, Sweden, and a registered psychologist. Her research area is environmental psychology; especially perceived accessibility, safety, and walkability in urban environments.
Gabriel Gliori is a research engineer at the Department of Urban Planning and Environment, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He is part of the UCS—Urban & Community Safety Research Group and a member of the Safeplaces network. His research focuses on the relationship between the built and social environment and safety and security, especially in public transport as well as in rural contexts.
Summary
This open access book paves the way for transformative strategies that increase the role of railway stations and other related transit environments in contributing to the global goals for sustainable development (the UN’s sustainability goals in Agenda 2030). Drawing on insights from a Swedish case, this book adopts a systems thinking approach to investigate how environments impact transit safety and provide strategies to address the diverse safety needs of users. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, including field inspections, analysis of official data, questionnaire surveys, and interviews. These data sources are analysed using statistical techniques, GIS mapping, and regression modelling. Building on these findings, the book also critically examines how future railway station designs are currently being planned to enhance accessibility and safety. This book answers the following questions: Why are certain station environments perceived as more unsafe than others, even though fewer crimes are committed there? Why do different groups of travelers differ about victimization and safety? From a governance perspective, what would make these places safer? What are the patterns of victimization of vulnerable groups, such as women and individuals with disabilities? The findings have international resonance as this book demonstrates the connection between safety and sustainability, offering useful insights and recommendations for researchers, practitioners and policymakers committed to shaping safer, more inclusive transit environments.
