Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
56682917
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Superle, Tamy D.(Tamy Dawn),1978-
Title
Cameras in the city : video surveillance in public places.
Degree
M.A. -- Queen's University at Kingston, 2003
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, [2004]
Description
2 microfiches.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
Public space video surveillance cameras are prolific in Britain and much of Europe. The United States also has a great many cameras in public spaces. Canada has far fewer cameras on our streets, but this is changing. Three cities have active cameras on their streets, two others have removed cameras and three have large scale plans to install cameras. This thesis looks at these communities and sets the installation of video surveillance cameras into a wider social and political context. This thesis seeks to answer the questions of why cameras are installed and what effect they have on the democratic use of public spaces. The answer to these questions seems to be that cameras are used as part of a mechanism of social control which attempts to monitor and control groups whose members do not conform to the 'consumer model' which is increasingly the norm in urban public spaces. This affects primarily the homeless, youth and people of minority race or ethnicity. Cameras are being used in an attempt to sanitize space of those who are not able to consume in order to recreate a shopping-mall-like atmosphere in urban cores. The effect of this is to create spaces of exclusion and a 'fortress-like' area dedicated to shopping and consumption. In order to examine this issue as inclusively as possible I also focus on women's unique experiences in the city. As they are often viewed as the primary shoppers in the mall, the fortressing of the city streets often targets women's fear as a motivator for installing the cameras. I discuss the overall failures of the cameras to create safer streets and the total failure of the cameras to address women's concerns in the city.
ISBN
0612811255
9780612811256