Tag Archives: Public

Cases

Broken windows theory: How to motivate citizens to keep their neighborhood clean

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The broken windows theory, introduced by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in 1982, suggests that visible signs of disorder and misbehavior in an environment encourage further disorder and misbehavior, leading to serious crimes. A classic example is a building with a few broken windows. If left unrepaired, vandals are likely to break more windows, potentially leading to more serious property damage.

During a recent trip to Istanbul, Turkiye, I observed this theory in action through a series of urban landscapes. The following image illustrates the problem. An outside trash and garbage collection area was exposed in a busy commercial district.

In contrast, the following three images demonstrate clever solutions, showcasing how to apply the broken windows theory in urban planning. In the first two images, the trash and garbage collection area was enclosed by an artificial ivy hedge to minimize its visibility from pedestrians. In the last image, the back side of a series of market stalls was enclosed by the decorative wall.

Hiding trash and garbage collection areas may not be a permanent solution. However, doing so will motivate citizens to keep their cities clean. By investing in public spaces, urban planners create environments that naturally deter crime and foster community well-being.

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Reference

Kelling, G. L., & Wilson, J. Q. (1982). Broken windows. Atlantic monthly, 249(3), 29-38.

In the mid-1970s The State of New Jersey announced a “Safe and Clean Neighborhoods Program,” designed to improve the quality of community life in twenty-eight cities. As part of that program, the state provided money to help cities take police officers out of their patrol cars and assign them to walking beats. The governor and other state officials were enthusiastic about using foot patrol as a way of cutting crime, but many police chiefs were skeptical. Foot patrol, in their eyes, had been pretty much discredited. It reduced the mobility of the police, who thus had difficulty responding to citizen calls for service, and it weakened headquarters control over patrol officers…

Cases

How does Taipei MRT differ from Copenhagen metro?

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Taipei Metro covers more stations than Copenhagen Metro. It covers 117 stations (vs. 22 stations). Like other Asian trains, it has seats designated for the people who are in need. A poster in the train asks us to “stand up for someone in need” in a gentle and polite way, that is, “也許他/她有需要，只是你看不到 (maybe she/he has the need, you just can’t see it).”

 

 

In contrast, Copenhagen trains have fewer folding seats (for bicycles and strollers) and have no seat for those who are in need. Interestingly, I have seen many seats are available because only few travelers sit down rather temporarily. Why do and how could many Danes stand up whereas many Taiwanese sit down in their trains?

 

 

 

Cases

A pink litter bin on the London Bridge

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River Thames flows through London. People come to the London Bridge to enjoy the river.

When I visited the London Bridge, there was a pink public litter bin in the beginning of the bridge. Many visitors stopped in front of it momentarily and threw litter away before crossing the bridge.

Although adding human faces or adding controversial messages encourages our prosocial behaviors, adding an opportunity to vote could be another effective intervention. Asking people to vote by splitting a litter bin into two sub bins looks more effective than designing a gigantic litter bin like a disposable coffee cup. I believe libertarian paternalism proposed by behavioral economists could help people behave in a better way.

Benartzi, Shlomo, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Cass R. Sunstein, Richard H. Thaler, Maya Shankar, Will Tucker-Ray, William J. Congdon, and Steven Galing (2017), “Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?,” Psychological Science, 28 (8), 1–15.

Governments are increasingly adopting behavioral science techniques for changing individual behavior in pursuit of policy objectives. The types of “nudge” interventions that governments are now adopting alter people’s decisions without coercion or significant changes to economic incentives. We calculated ratios of impact to cost for nudge interventions and for traditional policy tools, such as tax incentives and other financial inducements, and we found that nudge interventions often compare favorably with traditional interventions. We conclude that nudging is a valuable approach that should be used more often in conjunction with traditional policies, but more calculations are needed to determine the relative effectiveness of nudging.