Publisher's Synopsis
As crime has become an increasing ‘quality of life’ concern in the western world over the last few decades, there has been a corresponding interest in the links between the design of the built environment, levels of security and perceptions of safety.
Terms such as ‘defensible space’, ‘natural surveillance’, and ‘crime prevention through environmental design’ are increasingly referred to by police, planners and community safety staff in local authorities.
The book offers practical guidance on good crime preventative design principles but also challenges the narrow deterministic view that crime can be ‘designed out’ through physical measures alone.
The first section covers theory and policy, explaining how approaches to design for crime prevention are based on a number of theories that are sometimes complementary but sometimes contradictory or incomplete. It discusses the political context in which design decisions are made and how these are often linked to broader socio–economic forces and aspirations. Direct design issues are then set out, covering aspects of design and the development process that can lead to reductions in opportunities for offences to occur, primarily through deterrence, target hardening and a problem–solving management approach. The last section covers indirect design issues – the more subtle but possibly more significant ways in which the planning and design of neighbourhoods and buildings can affect personal and social behaviour, both of potential victims and potential offenders, to reduce the likelihood of crimes occurring and to enhance a sense of safety. The section discusses to what extent the way neighbourhoods are designed can affect levels of social cohesion, social capital, stability and interaction that can make areas more crime–resistant.
