The City of Edmonton has launched an interactive map to collect data from residents about places they feel safe or unsafe.
It’s called SafeCityYEG.
“I’m hoping that people realize that they have an opportunity to improve their city,” said Ward 2 Counillor Bev Esslinger.
The map allows people to mark a location where they’ve felt safe or unsafe and share why.
“Is the lighting poor? What is it about that area that makes you feel unsafe? What day of the week do you feel unsafe?” asked Esslinger.
Downtown resident Janelle Rose said shehas experienced verbal harassment while walking to the store.
“One of them was like really rowdy and wouldn’t leave me alone,” Rose recalled.
Now residents can look at the map to see what others have experienced—good and bad—across the city.
“I like that,” said Rose. “I like having an app that I can look and see, so that makes me feel better.”
“I’m a runner so I run at night a lot, and I think that would be really helpful,” said another Edmonton resident Jaclyn Panylyk.
Esslinger said the city is spending about $40,000 on the project.
Although it started as part of the UN Safe Cities for Women and Girls in Public Places Initiative, officials hope men will also contribute.
“We know when a city is safe for women and girls, it’s safe for everyone. And the data we collect, we hope, is from everyone,” Esslinger said.
There are hundreds of locations on the map, and several spots along Jasper Avenue have been noted repeatedly.
The city will collect data over the next year then have it analyzed along with information from 311 and the Edmonton Police Service to identify problem areas.
“Taking all that data is going to help us understand areas of the city that we have to improve,” said Esslinger.
“My hope is what was unsafe in the first year, if we’ve done it right, we should be safer in the second year.”
