'It is all about perceptions': Closed-circuit television, feelings of safety and perceptions of space - What the people say

Results from a survey conducted in Hamburg in 2006 suggest that closed-circuit television (CCTV) has little to do with manufacturing security/feelings of safety among people. It seems that preceding spatial perceptions have a greater impact on whether a certain space or place is regarded as being unsafe or not. In this paper, I will present data from a quantitative survey that questions the role of feelings of security and how they might impact attitudes about CCTV, and highlight that the perceived safeness of a space has little to do with the technology and more with socio-relations, of which space is but one part. This does not mean that CCTV has no impact at all, but rather that it is not necessarily the major factor it is thought to be, and seemingly not a measure to enhance feelings of safety in public spaces. The survey also raises questions about the aptness of the methodology to researching spatial issues, because of the complexity of space and spatial contexts.