Safety, Security, Urban Safety and Urban Security: A Conceptual Analysis

Being one of the most basic needs of the human, security is a matter that is addressed by different disciplines. Having the right to life and fundamental rights and freedoms and using them effectively is only possible in a safe and secure city. But today, that the urban problems and (in)security in cities constitute threats at regional and global levels have led to the necessity that cities also have to be dealt within the context of safety and security. Therefore, we have to reconsider the elements of safety and security in cities and the threats to the safety and security of the city in a way that suits the understanding of this age. Achieving this primarily depends on comprehending the concepts of safety and security correctly. However, as in most terms today, there is a sense of confusion in terms of ‘safety’ and ‘security’. Understanding the responsibilities of the community in the context of urban safety and the law enforcement agencies in the context of urban security depends on the correct understanding of the meanings, similarities and differences of the terms ‘safety’ and ‘security’. Accepting the terms safety and security as similar concepts will make it difficult to find appropriate strategies and effective solutions for ensuring safety and security in cities but to make a distinction between these terms will make a difference to reach a safe and secure city ideal faster. In this article, it is assumed that it is more appropriate to use the word ‘safety’ in English for ‘emniyet’ in Turkish and ‘urban safety’ for ‘kent emniyeti’ in Turkish, and ‘security’ in English for ‘güvenlik’ and ‘urban security’ for ‘kent güvenli？i’ in Turkish. However, safety and security management in cities should be carried out coordinated by taking into account the similarities and differences between the terms ‘safety’ and ‘security’. With this in mind in this article, it is aimed to remove the confusion of meaning between these terms, to make the definitions of them clear and to draw the boundaries of these concepts. Keywords; Safety, Security, City, Urban Safety, Urban Securit