Mapping drug users’ spaces of fear in Cologne, Germany

Background
Urban spaces of fear are usually discussed from the perspective of mainstream society. Typically, such spaces are public areas that are not necessarily characterised by high levels of recorded crime, but by the perception of crime-related insecurities. Place-based approaches of criminological theory and crime prevention policy repeatedly identify the causes of these insecurities in visible phenomena of social disorder and physical decay, which are regarded as an expression of limited social control that inevitably leads to the emergence of fear of crime. In his seminal work on the main strands of research, Skogan (2015) summarises syringes on the sidewalk, street drug sales and visible drug use as some of the key indicators of social and physical disorders that are used throughout the world to assess neighbourhood conditions and so-called antisocial behaviour. Thus, situational interventions of urban crime prevention particularly focus on punishing behavioural patterns of those social groups that are already suffering from marginalisation due to their street lifestyle.
Methods
Our research shifts the perspective and asks for spaces of fear as perceived by drug users in the city centre of the German metropolis Cologne. We ask for new insecurities arising for marginalised social groups when creating security for mainstream society. Using an auto-photography approach and narrative interview data, our research presents images as representations of security threats in the risk environment of the urban realm. 
Results
Rhodes et al. (2012) describe the risks that are related to the marginalised and criminalised lives of many drug users, which include a high degree of criminal victimisation and physical and structural violence. Images and interview data of our research reveal that the spaces of fear of drug users on the one hand and mainstream society on the other hand are spatially congruent – with people who use drugs actually experiencing violence, while it is anticipated by mainstream society. In addition, the data material shows further sources of insecurity resulting from experienced stigmatisation through mainstream society and displacement practices of police forces and municipal law enforcement officers – which compound with higher risks of infectious diseases and (fatal) overdoses.
Conclusion
The underlying study is part of a comprehensive mapping of drug-related harm in Cologne’s city centre, which aims to identify characteristics of the risk environment and conflicts in the social space.