Broken Windows theory

A break from my usual photos of flowers, family and photography to have a rant.  i took this photo on my phone on my way to college this morning. This part of the path I ride on is littered with glass and has been for quite a while. It's used by pedestrians, a lot of children going to and from the local primary school, and cyclists like myself. I'm fortunate to have puncture resistant tyres - I just hope the kids have puncture proof trousers if they run and trip.
Lat week, the campaigning organisation Cycling Dumfries took a posse of politicians around the local cycle paths to point out problems. There had recently been a yarn bombing event to highlight the obstructive 'street furniture' and the council had denounced the yarn as litter. Cycling Dumfries pointed out that the Maxwelltown Cycle Path was strewn with litter. This was cleared up before the politicians' visit last Friday. I think they missed out this part, which runs through a swathe of social housing in North West Dumfries.
 It put me in mind of the Broken Windows Theory  put forward in 1982 by Wilson and Kelling. Basically this says that the prevention of small crimes can lead to the prevention of bigger ones - the existence of a few broken windows in a building leads to people thinking that this is the norm and more vandalism occurs. Put another way, if areas like this are kept clean and tidy, well lit and maintained, they are more likely to be nicer places to live and to stay that way.
Nicer places to walk and cycle in as well :-)