Urban infill includes a potential to change the track of development of existing, distressed
neighborhoods. The investments to a neighborhood as a whole can at best contribute to an increase in residential
satisfaction, including perceived safety. Using a location-based public participation geographic information
system approach, this study offers insights on how to avoid too simplistic or deterministic thinking in safety
planning through a case study of a neighborhood representing urban retrofit in Espoo, Finland. This article concludes
that more comprehensive safety strategies are most likely to succeed in breaking the negative development
of fear and a spiral of neighborhood decay especially in retrofit neighborhoods.

• Perceived safety of the retrofit neighborhood: A location-based approach