Crime prevention through environmental design in Western Australia: planning for sustainable urban futures

Abstract

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.

Urban Planning and Environmental Criminology: Towards a New Perspective for Safer Cities

“…The crime dimension to sustainability has only recently been subject to widespread scrutiny (Napier et al, 1998;Vanderschueren, 1998;Du Plessis, 1999;Cozens et al, 1999;Cozens, 2002Cozens, , 2007aGlasson & Cozens, 2011) and sustainability protocols arguably do not adequately represent realistic or appropriate indicators of the levels of crime or the fear of crime (Cozens, 2007a(Cozens, , 2008a. It is argued that a sustainable urban environment is one where the inhabitants 'should not have cause for fear for their personal safety and the safety of possessions ' (Du Plessis, 1999, p. 33).…”

“…Investigating the urban 'stage', where (and when) crime is located, can therefore contribute much to our existing knowledge and understanding of crime and assist in the creation and maintenance of safer, vibrant and more sustainable urban communities. Indeed, there is a growing body of research that links urban sustainability with crime (Du Plessis, 1999;Cozens, 2002Cozens, , 2007aCozens, , 2008aKnights et al, 2002;Dewberry, 2003;Armitage, 2007;Glasson & Cozens, 2011). It is increasingly recognized that a sustainable community is one that is both safe and perceived by its residents to be safe from crime.…”

MCDM Assessment of a Healthy and Safe Built Environment According to Sustainable Development Principles: A Practical Neighborhood Approach in Vilnius

“…Cozens [62] claims that such issues as crime and the fear of crime are not effectively represented within most sustainability agendas and require explicit inclusion. He provides recommendations for integrating crime and the fear of crime within urban sustainability [62].…”

“…Viteikiene and [50], Dempsey et al [51], Lee et al [54], Charoenkit, Kumar [59], Conejos et al [60,61], Cozens [62] and others have also analyzed the criteria of safety. Cozens [62] claims that such issues as crime and the fear of crime are not effectively represented within most sustainability agendas and require explicit inclusion. He provides recommendations for integrating crime and the fear of crime within urban sustainability [62].…”

Ranking of Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the New Housing Development Projects: Case of the Baltic States

“…For instance, according to Ceccato and Lukyte [64], "a sustainable community shall be a place free from the fear of crime, where a feeling of security underpins a wider sense of place attachment and place attractiveness". Cozens [65] noted that "such issues as crime and the fear of crime are not effectively represented within most sustainability agendas and require explicit inclusion". Research by Zavadskas et al [30] indicated safety as the most important criterion in social dimension for assessment sustainability of Vilnius districts.…”