Over the years, the field of urban planning has joined the spheres of criminology, social work, urban anthropology or psychology who are traditionally and most associated with violence as an issue of individual, in studying urban violence and criminal pathology. UN-Habitat (2007) observes the rapid pace of urbanization coupled with the growth in city size and density is associated with increased crime and violence. Poor urban planning, design and management play a role in the shaping of urban environments that put citizens and property at risk. In the forecast of Doyle (2016), it was observed that the world is currently undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. However, it is widely believed that rapid urbanisation and the marginalisation of specific groups is one of the contributing factors to a rise in organised forms of urban violence (Muggah, 2012).

In the foreword of World Report on Violence and Health (2002), Nelson Mandela was quoted saying no country, no city, no community is immune to urban violence. Is a legacy that reproduces itself, as new generations learn from the violence of generations past, as victims learn from victimisers, and as the social conditions that nurture violence are allowed to continue. WHO (2002) opines clearly that over 1.6 million lives are lost each year and countless more damaged in ways that are not always apparent. For everyone who dies as a result of violence, many more are injured and suffer from a range of physical, sexual, reproductive and mental health problems. This shows no country or community is untouched by violence. Morser & Mcilwaine (2006) believe definitions of violence often overlap with those of conflict and crime, reflected in terms such as “violent crime”,“criminal conflict”,“conflictual violence” and “violent conflict”. However, most generic definitions present violence as the use of physical force, which causes hurt to others in order to impose one’s wishes (Keane, 1996).