This paper reviews the core findings from recently published place-based crime prevention research. It critically evaluates the available evidence on the contribution of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) as a crime prevention strategy. CPTED is both an increasingly fashionable approach and is being implemented on a global scale (Cisneros, 1995). 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 in such an approach by central government. The authors detail the difficulties associated with demonstrating the effectiveness of CPTED and conclude that although empirical proof has not been definitively demonstrated, there is a large and growing body of research, which supports the assertion that CPTED is a pragmatic and effective crime prevention tool. This review provides an extensive bibliography of contemporary CPTED and a follow-up paper will discuss the future research priorities for 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.

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Rail users consistently perceive their risks from crime to be significantly higher than official statistics suggest, discouraging many from using rail transport. The aims of the paper include a discussion of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and current policy initiatives for reducing crime and the fear of crime on the railways. This exploratory study focuses on adult passengers' perceptions of crime and nuisance as they relate to the management, design and maintenance of railway stations and their immediate access routes. The study innovatively utilises interactive virtual reality (VR) scenes of 'representative' stations as the environmental stimulus and concludes that such an approach provides an analytical and pragmatic framework for managers of railway stations that are unlikely to receive Secure Station accreditation.