SDG 11 aims for safer settlements. However, safe cities are not only those that “proactively reduce urban crime such as antisocial behavior, street robbery and burglaries through a mixture of policing, technology deployment, and offender management” (IFSEC Global) but also those that recognize the decisive role of the urban landscape (both built and natural environment) in how citizens interact with one another and have efficient urban space management.

Therefore, the Lab focuses on the urban environment (place). And on what place managers (governance) and other societal actors can do to shape the urban environment to reduce crime so that their actions do not turn into ‘fortressing’ (i.e., too much surveillance or physical barriers).

The Lab convenes different actors that can contribute to analyzing how the built and natural environment affects gender violence in Cluj-Napoca. By involving architects, criminologists, gender violence and victimology specialists, sociologists/social psychologists, NGOs that serve gender violence victims/fight for gender equality, public administration specialists, and other relevant actors, the lab addresses the issue of gender violence in the urban landscape.

Designed as a 3-day in-person event, the Lab will take place in the municipality of Cluj-Napoca, the second largest city in Romania, between the 15th and 17th of June, 2023.