Impact of Housing Design on Crime (original) (raw)
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Crime prevention in urban spaces through environmental design: A critical UK perspective
Cities, 2019
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) and the Defensible Space Theory have been adopted to enable the effective use of the built environment to reduce crime. The occurrence of crime is widely accepted to be context-specific. Some explanatory theories have focused on social disorder, alluding to the notion that if such disorders are eliminated from society then serious crime would be eradicated. Numerous approaches have considered the use of environmental design and spatial configuration as a possible solution to reduce crime. The main aim of this study is to gain further understanding of stakeholders' perceptions of Brixton Town Centre (BTC) in London and thus advance the discourse of CPTED. Using a mixed methodology approach, a visual audit of CPTED, a critical analysis of police crime data, questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews were carried out to gauge the effectiveness of key CPTED intervention principles identified in BTC. It was revealed that since the interventionary measures began in BTC in 2011, there has been an increase in the crime rates for other parts of England and Wales whilst BTC in particular has experienced a decline. A positive correlation was found between length of residency in the area and fear of crime. Lighting was critical to people's perception of feeling secure. Finally, the research findings revealed that although crime rates had fallen in BTC, stakeholders agree that further improvement was required. This research concludes with a proposal of further study that will theorize the phenomenon occurring at BTC.
Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): a review and modern bibliography
Property Management, 2005
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.
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.
Public health and the potential benefits of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
New South Wales Public Health Bulletin, 2007
Studies have consistently found that safety and security are major public concerns; however, crime is rarely considered as an outcome in public health. The recent shift by planning policy towards promoting compact, 'walkable' communities close to public transport aims to redress many of the problems associated with urban sprawl. However, communities that do not feel safe are less likely to be active citizens. This paper argues that Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design has potential benefits for public health in the provision of local crime risk assessments and in delivering safer environments, which can support active living, walkable communities and public health.
Measuring Crime Prevention through Environmental Design in a Gated Residential Area: A Pilot Survey
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012
In gauging the Crime Prevention through Environmental Design elements in residential areas, the observation approach often used as a measurement method. However, these evaluations merely based on observations are seen to be inadequate. This is due to the fact that CPTED is closely tied to the community in order to ensure success of the concept. Therefore, the pilot study was conducted at gated residential areas located at Burmah Road at Bukit Jambul in Penang, Malaysia. The results found the level of reliability and validity using Cronbach Alpha (α) index for all components of CPTED are 0.6 and above.
Measuring Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
In gauging the Crime Prevention through Environmental Design elements in residential areas, the observation approach often used as a measurement method. However, these evaluations merely based on observations are seen to be inadequate. This is due to the fact that CPTED is closely tied to the community in order to ensure success of the concept. Therefore, the pilot study was conducted at gated residential areas located at Burmah Road at Bukit Jambul in Penang, Malaysia. The results found the level of reliability and validity using Cronbach Alpha (α) index for all components of CPTED are 0.6 and above.
The observation approach is often used as a measument tool for examining the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) elements in residential areas. However, the evaluation based on observations are seen to be inadequate. This is due to the fact that CPTED is closely tied to the community in order to ensure success of the concept. Therefore, the pilot study was conducted at gated residential areas located at Burmah Road at Bukit Jambul in Penang, Malaysia. The results found the level of reliability and validity using Cronbach Alpha (α) index for all components of CPTED are 0.6 and above.
Proposed Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: Gated Cmmunity and non-Gated Community
This working paper constitutes a research proposal through environmental design focused on residential neighbourhoods. This study is formulated as a result of the escalating crime rate in housing areas especially daytime and nocturnal house-breaking crimes that increased by as much as 2.1 percent from 2005 to 2007 in Malaysia (PDRM, 2008). Various methods to reduce crime have been adopted by both the public and private sectors. Similarly housing developers are not to be left out in taking initiatives to reduce crime through the development of gated community residences by providing a security system to protect against crime. Furthermore, the gated community concept is gaining popularity from the point of view of house buyers as it offers an additional alternative focusing on security as a main factor besides offering other facilities that could enhance comfort for the residents. These findings are based on the gated community concept of development that have been applied in western countries especially in the United States that is believed to have been able to reduce crime rate in housing areas. Following a spike in demand for such housing concept, the formulation of a gated community housing concept guideline started getting the attention of Local Authorities to ensure that its construction adheres to the provisions of the law to fulfil market demand. As such this study proposes to make a comparison between crime rate reduction in gated community housing areas and non-gated community housing areas and to study the residents' perception of their fear of crime. The findings of this study are important to produce a safe housing guideline based on crime prevention concept through environmental design.