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The urban theorist Jane Jacobs related the presence of people with street safety, coining the expression "eyes on the street" and connecting it with morphological characteristics of architecture and urban space. However, urban studies have usually focused on people's perceptions of fear and social features rather than establishing a connection between where violence takes place and how the built environment looks like. This paper aims to estimate a potential relationship between street safety and urban morphology in a neighborhood of Quito, Ecuador, called la Mariscal. Crime Data was provided by the competent local government and morphological indicators were taken from a recent study of the neighborhood. Both categories were tested using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) econometric model. Results show that five morphological indicators related with the presence of people, non-basic commercial and facility balance, street area, distance to squares and pocket parks, distance to public transport stations, and distance to border vacuums, referring to big urban areas abandoned or with massive single uses, are strongly correlated with the number of robberies. This outcome provides evidence to support that urban planning and design principles may incorporate safety considerations. • The presence of people helps to reduce the number of street robberies. • Morphological urban indicators related to the presence of people are strongly correlated with the number of street robberies. • Jane Jacobs's postulate regarding eyes on the street is still valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban rivers differ from natural rivers because of the direct connection they have with human habitat. Furthermore, riverbanks are public spaces that contribute to the interaction between natural and urbanized areas and between people from different socioeconomic background. Due to this significance, the main objective of this research was to provide a methodology for the construction of a toolbox that evaluates connectivity and comfort of urban riverbanks, so as to allow comparative visual and numeric analysis between different zones of the same river, distinct rivers in the same city and rivers in various cities. The proposal was based on the disaggregation of the concepts of connectivity and comfort, through the analysis of four dimensions: (a) Spatial and visual accessibility, (b) Continuity of the green corridor, (c) Condition of public space , and (d) Condition of the first built line , expressed in thirteen quantitative condition indicators. For validation, the toolbox was applied to five zones of the Tomebamba River of the city of Cuenca in Ecuador and a series of maps were generated allowing spatial visualization of the results. In addition, an Urban River Sustainability Index (URSI) was developed to reinforce the decision-making processes in planning and urban design. • Urban rivers are public spaces that contribute to the interaction between different people, natural and urbanized areas. • This paper provides a toolbox that evaluates connectivity and comfort of urban riverbanks. • Four dimensions are analyzed: Spatial and visual accessibility , Continuity of the green corridor , Condition of public space , and Condition of the first built line. • An Urban River Sustainability Index was developed to reinforce the decision-making processes in planning and urban design. • Urban rivers planning should include short, middle and long-term decisions in multiple scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]