Singapore
As you travel from one country to another, one county to another in the UK, one state to another in the USA, you see different styles of housing and security.
India
In India a man fell over a balcony wall and was saved by a bystander. The kind of guard above would have prevented the incident.
South Africa
South African substantial homes are guarded by high walls. The walls have warning signs.
UK
London homes traditionally have fenced front gardens. Middle class homes have high fences. Cheaper homes have cheaper, lower fences at the front and back.
USA Murder
In Texas, December 2022, the worst pre-Christmas ever for one 7 year old child, who was murdered by a delivery driver. The child was in her front yard, the drive, as the Americans say.
My reaction was, why was the child out at the front, after an argument, when she might have run away or done something silly. She could have been in the back garden. Some people say the child should have been sent to her room.
In my view an upset child, indeed any child, should be kept close to home and watched. The child should not have been out the front. There she was exposed to being knocked down by a car, running away, being hit by an incoming vehicle, attacked by a neighbour's dog, abducted.
She should have been in the fenced back garden. (Unless it had dogs and unfenced pools and ponds - in which case the dogs should have been muzzled in a dog house and the pond and swimming pool should have been fenced with a locked gate.)
Australia
In Australia, back garden swimming pools must be fenced and gated. This rule was brought in when it was discovered that the largest number of drowning deaths was not in the sea but in swimming pools.
Singapore
In Singapore, dog walked around a condominium grounds and car parks must be kept on a leash.
Ideally the kitchen window and lounge windows should have overlooked the garden so the parent or guardian could watch children playing. To watch out for deliveries, from a back kitchen, there could be a camera system such as door-ring.
Singapore Play Areas
In Singapore blocks of flats are designed so that the play area can be overlooked by the surrounding flats, so that a parent can watch. Also the play area is not secluded. Cameras and a dozen eyes are on it.
Housing can be designed so that front doors are overlooked, which reduces crime.
Middle East
In the hot middle east and north Africa, houses and blocks of flats are built like a square frame with a sheltered garden in the centre. The women and children can play safely indoors, sheltered from strangers and the sun. Pets and plants are protected from theft.
USA Fenced and Fences Banned
An interesting debate on Quora gives several views on why and where and when homes in the USA have had fences at the front, or none.
If you are thinking of renting or buying property overseas, whether on holiday or for business or retirement, you can search on street view and check crime levels and local building regulations.
UK
Useful Websites
Indian Incident
Texas Tragedy
Ring doorbells attach to your phone where you can video
RING VIDEO DOORBELLS
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