Caracas does not figure large on the map for the thousands of tourists who flock to South America every year lured by the promise of ancient civilizations, mysterious jungles and pulsating rhythms.

Even for residents of the Venezuelan capital, Caracas – once a popular home-from-home for waves of immigrants drawn by its quality of life – is today synonymous with insecurity and traffic nightmares.

Now a slew of new initiatives is aiming to give the city a more human face: More parks and green spaces, wider pavements, the renovation of the historic city centre, more police patrols and more open-air cultural events.

“I think people are prepared to fight more now for their open spaces than they did before,” said Cheo Carvajal, author of the “Caracas By Foot” column in a Venezuelan daily and a leading advocate for the rights of pedestrians and cyclists.

“There must be a pressure from below from citizens demanding their rights, and from above with concrete policies to recover such spaces.”

But at night, when Caracas, a city of four million residents, turns into a ghost town because of fears of robbery and violence, when traffic jams can last for hours and onlookers seek out the bright lights of the shopping malls, it is apparent there is still much to be done.

“We need more public open spaces, and people have to get over their fear and visit these public places and take care of them, instead of remaining behind closed doors at home,” said young mother Patricia Medina. About 14,000 people were murdered in Venezuela in 2010, which has a homicide rate of 48 in every 100,000 – a near-record in Latin America. According to non-governmental organisations the rate in Caracas is as high as 100 murders for every 100,000 residents.

And here in oil-rich Venezuela, where gas is the cheapest in the world at just pennies for a litre, about five million vehicle journeys happen every day – 24 per cent in private cars – clogging the city streets.

“We can’t reclaim a city by insisting that it is dangerous. Caracas has potential, and we have to take risks to highlight this. The more that people take back the streets, the safer they will be,” Mr Carvajal added.

One resident, Sofia Bautista, is helping to lead the way.

“For several months I have been doing yoga in the park. It’s the perfect place because Caracas has such rich nature.”