Gendered Perceptions of Place on York University's Keele Campus through a Lens of Personal Safety

The York University Keele Campus is a public space that is primarily used by students, faculty, and staff and at any given moment there can be thousands of individuals on the University campus. With a student population of just over 50,000, York University is one of the largest universities in Canada and resembles a small city. Much like a city, the Keele Campus of York University has been impacted by incidents of sexual assault, robberies, hate crimes and criminal activity that have produced caution amongst those who interact with the Campus. The incidents that have occurred on the Campus have affected many individuals ability to establish a sense of place and cause them to restrict their use of space. On a university campus where incidents are publicized by the socialization between students, media reports, and notification emails, concerns regarding personal safety manifest into perceptions of place that are highly gendered. Through a lens of personal safety, this thesis seeks to understand students perceptions of place on the Keele Campus, identifying how the built environment, students gender identity, and the reputation attributed to space contribute to students perceptions. Moreover, it will explore how the perceptions of place held by students affect their daily geographies of the Keele Campus and challenge the gender normative direction of the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design model that exists in the governing and operation of the Keele Campus.