Paul Cozens

Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): a review and modern bibliography

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically review the core findings from recently published place‐based crime prevention research. The paper aims to critically evaluate the available evidence on the contribution of crime prevention through environmental design as a crime prevention strategy. Design/methodology/approach – Large‐scale evaluations of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) are reviewed with a view to clarifying current knowledge on the evidence of crime prevention through environmental design. Findings – The review concludes that there is a growing body of research that supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is effective in reducing both crime and fear of crime in the community. Research limitations/implications – Although the paper may not review all the evaluations of CPTED, it nonetheless provides a detailed compilation and overview of the most significant research in the area, including an extensive and modern bibliography on the subject. Research implications will be the subject of a forthcoming paper. Practical implications – CPTED is an increasingly fashionable approach and is being implemented on a global scale. Additionally, individual components such as territoriality, surveillance, maintenance, access control, activity support and target‐hardening are being widely deployed. However, the evidence currently available is inconclusive and much criticised, which effectively prevents widespread intervention and investment by central government. The paper details the difficulties associated with demonstrating the effectiveness of CPTED. Originality/value – The paper concludes that although empirical proof has not been definitively demonstrated, there is a large and growing body of research, which supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is a pragmatic and effective crime prevention tool. This review provides an extensive bibliography of contemporary crime prevention through environmental design and a follow‐up paper will discuss the future research priorities for it.

Sustainable Urban Development and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design for the British City. Towards an Effective Urban Environmentalism for the 21st Century

Abstract This paper discusses the inter-related concepts of sustainable urban development and CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design). It argues that a ‘safer’ and ‘sustainable’ community must be characterised by the image of regulation, or at least some control of real and imagined threats to personal or community health and the threat of crime and personal attack. Planners and urban designers have a growing awareness and experience of ‘sustainable development’ and are beginning to consider the capacity of the built environment to reduce both the fear of crime and the potential for offending. This paper concludes that a synthesis of the two concepts can represent a meaningful contribution towards crafting an effective strand of ‘urban environmentalism’ that can be utilised to facilitate the design of safer, more liveable and sustainable urban communities.

Crime and the design of residential property – exploring the theoretical background ‐ Part 1

This paper provides a critical review of “Defensible Space” (Newman, 1973) and traces the development of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) in America and Canada, and Secured By Design (SBD) initiatives in the UK. It is argued that various aspects of the theory have avoided consideration and require further investigation and research. It is opined that “defensible space” is the theoretical foundation to both CPTED and SBD and it is posited that a thorough re‐examination of Newman’s ideas will serve to deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between the built environment and crime. British (BS8220) and European (CEN TC/325) Standards relating to urban planning and environmental design and crime reduction are currently receiving detailed deliberation and are based firmly upon Newman’s ideas. The projected need for some 4.4 million new homes in Britain (DOE, 1995) by 2016 and Lord Roger’s call for improvements in urban design to reduce suburban migration from cities (DETR, 1999) reiterates the importance of the subject matter. This paper (the first of two) recognises that design per se does not represent the panacea for reducing criminogeneity, rather, that “defensible space” CPTED and SBD should be considered as crime prevention strategies, which can, in common with all other initiatives, contribute to tackling the problem of residential crime. In conclusion, it is argued that further research concerning how “defensible space” is perceived by various crucial stakeholders in society is the way forward in this regard. A second, forthcoming paper (PM, Vol. 19 No. 3) will present these research findings.

New Urbanism, Crime and the Suburbs: A Review of the Evidence

Sustainability now influences government policy in the UK, Australia and USA and planning policy currently advocates high density, mixed-use residential developments in ‘walkable’, permeable neighbourhoods, close to public transport, employment and amenities. This clearly demonstrates the growing popularity, influence and application of New Urbanist ideas. This article reviews the criminological research relating to New Urbanism associated with the three key issues of permeability, rear laneway car parking and mixed-use development. These key issues are discussed from an environmental criminology perspective and challenge New Urbanist assumptions concerning crime. The article proposes that crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and its crime risk assessment model represents a valuable tool for New Urbanists to utilise to reduce opportunities for crime and tackle fear of crime in the community. Recommendations for future research and collaboration are discussed.

Crime and the design of residential property – exploring the perceptions of planning professionals, burglars and other users

The first paper, entitled “Crime and the design of residential property: exploring the theoretical background” (Property Management, Vol. 19 No. 2), has argued that “perceptions” and the “image” of housing designs remain a largely untested avenue of investigation in the design‐effects‐crime debate. Presents and discusses exploratory research into the perception of crime/deviancy, fear of crime and “defensible space”, in relation to a range of characteristic UK housing designs. This investigation concerns the perceptions of planning professionals, convicted burglars and other users and provides both qualitative and quantitative analysis of results from a series of interviews which presented slide representations of terraced, semi‐detached and detached housing designs in addition to low‐rise/walk‐up flats and high‐rise flats. Where possible, two contrasting versions of the same design were presented to probe the influence of “image” in the perception of crime and “defensible space”. The results from this exploratory investigation underpin Newman’s theory of “defensible space” in that a “hierarchy of place” appears to exist with regard to housing designs. However, the “image” of each design is perceived to be a significant contributing factor in relation to the criminogenic capacity of each design presented. Wilson and Kelling’s “Broken Windows” theory is also supported by these research findings.

The Shape of Things to Come: New Urbanism, the Grid and the Cul-De-Sac

Abstract There is much debate in the UK, North America and Australia within both crime prevention and planning concerning New Urbanism and the design of suburban housing layouts. New Urbanism promotes high-density, mixed-use residential developments in ‘walkable’ neighbourhoods close to public transport, employment and amenities. One significant factor is New Urbanisms support for permeability and the preference of the grid street layout over the cul-de-sac (Morrow-Jones et al., (2004). The authors present the evidence as it relates to the grid and the cul-de-sac across a range of inter-disciplinary issues such as crime, walkability, social interaction, travel behaviour, traffic safety, cost and sustainability and housing preferences. This paper provides a brief history of the grid and cul-de-sac, discusses their respective strengths and weaknesses and concludes that any ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is myopic and simplistic. It calls for a more holistic approach to understanding the localized and contextual dimension to suburban street layouts and how they may affect human behaviour. The paper highlights key areas for future research and calls for more inter-disciplinary debate and cooperation, particularly between environmental criminologists, planners and town centre managers.

Planning, Crime And Urban Sustainability

Globally, the environmental movement has played a pivotal role in influencing the development of sustainability. Increasingly, urban sustainability is seen as a new large-scale vision to guide the planning agenda for the twenty-first century. However, a review of the literature clearly indicates that crime and fear of crime can seriously undermine the broader aims of urban sustainability. Furthermore, analysts tend to focus on levels of recorded crime, largely ignoring the crucial and arguably more important dimension of citizens’ fear of crime and their perceptions of their local environment. This paper provides recommendations for integrating crime and fear of crime within urban sustainability. It also proposes that ‘designing out crime’ represents a vital tool for assisting in the development of urban sustainability.

CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA: PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN FUTURES

Purpose: Cities as places of human habitation have multiple and interwoven impacts on the environment and upon their inhabitants. There are many defi nitions and interpretations of sustainable development and various models exist for the sustainable city, ranging from ‘light green’ to ‘dark green’. This paper discusses the ‘redesigning the city’ model and investigates the extent to which crime and fear of crime are integrated within this framework and argues that crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) represents a useful planning tool to assist in the development of urban sustainability. Results: A review of the literature clearly indicates that crime and fear of crime need to be considered within sustainability frameworks and that these issues can seriously undermine the broader aims of urban sustainability. If sustainability is to adequately represent the new large-scale vision to guide the planning agenda for the 21st century, it must incorporate a primary consideration for all potential threats to the long-term sustainable health and personal safety of both the built environment and its occupants. Conclusions: The paper concludes that such issues as crime and the fear of crime are not effectively represented within most sustainability agendas, and require explicit inclusion. Analysts tend to focus on levels of recorded crime, largely ignoring the crucial and arguably more important dimension of citizens’ fear of crime and their perceptions of the built environment. This paper provides recommendations for integrating crime and fear of crime within urban sustainability. It also proposes that ‘designing out crime’, also known as CPTED, represents a vital tool for assisting in the creation, development and promotion of more user-friendly and sustainable urban environments.

A Review and Current Status of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED)

This article reviews the current status of the concept of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). It provides an overview of its history and origins and defines how it is commonly understood and conceptualized. Globally, CPTED is an increasingly popular crime prevention strategy supported by governments all over Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as in Asia and South Africa. This review inspects some of the evidence associated with CPTED and provides a detailed overview of the main criticisms facing this field.

Investigating personal safety at railway stations using “virtual reality” technology

Understanding fear of crime is a crucial dimension to the “designing out crime” debate, particularly in view of the “dark figure” of crime which remains largely unknown due to under‐reporting and under recording of incidents. On the railways, customer satisfaction surveys have consistently reported that although recorded incidents of crime and nuisance are relatively low, customers perceive their personal risks to be significantly higher, discouraging many from using rail transport. This study of a representative sample of railway stations on a network in South Wales, focuses on personal safety issues as explained using the theory of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). The research project innovatively utilises interactive virtual reality scenes as the environmental stimuli to elucidate rich sources of data in terms of where passengers’ fears were located in and around the station and how service providers can make stations safer. Some basic design changes are briefly evaluated and recommendations for those who design and manage built environment facilities are discussed.