It Looks Good, but What is it Like to Live There? Exploring the Impact of Innovative Housing Design on Crime

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of a collaborative project (funded by the Home Office and managed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment -CABE) which was conducted in late 2009 and early 2010. The project set out to strengthen and update the evidence base on the impact of design on a range of crime types -with a specific focus upon housing developments acclaimed for their innovative design and award winning architecture. This paper presents the findings of an in-depth assessment of the impact of housing design features on crime. Utilising a comprehensive data collection exercise, the specific design features of thousands of homes were collated and assessed against police recorded crime data. The design features were based upon the key elements of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) including road layout, house design, surveillance, territoriality, car parking, communal space, management and maintenance and physical security. The unique and painstaking methodology not only provided an excellent dataset for analysis, but also highlighted the need both for greater conceptual clarity within CPTED and for crime-risk assessments to be based on the careful operationalisation and measurement of CPTED factors. As well as assessing the impact of specific (and combined) design features upon crime, the research also resulted in the production of a new data collection tool designed to address the weaknesses of existing checklists in assessing innovative contemporary developments, which are often unconventional in nature. The paper explores the degree of conflict and/or synergy between the traditional principles of CPTED and contemporary directions in architecture and design. Finally the paper considers the extent to which traditional CPTED principles remain relevant within contemporary residential developments and explores whether areas of revision are required.

Guardianship and crime: an international comparative study of guardianship in action

“…In the United Kingdom, Armitage [1] rated the physical characteristics of properties in West Yorkshire for core defensible space/ CPTED (referred to as 'Secured by Design' in the U.K.) variables including territoriality. Results showed that the absence of a real or symbolic barrier significantly increased the risk of burglary (see [3] for a more inclusive test of several additional CPTED variables; see also [9,10] for an exhaustive review of empirical tests of CPTED components). In the Netherlands, Reynald [25] found that territoriality played a significant positive role in explaining the variance in property crime on street-segments in The Hague, while the image/maintenance of the street segments emerged as significant but negative.…”

Does the Configuration of the Street Network Influence Where Outdoor Serious Violence Takes Place? Using Space Syntax to Test Crime Pattern Theory

“…Some authors have included violent crime in the data analyzed, but with a few exceptions (see below) failed to disaggregate by crime type (e.g., Armitage et al 2011;Dhiman 2006;Fanek 1997;Greenberg and Rohe 1984;Jones and Fanek 1997;Long and Baran 2006;Nubani and Wineman 2005). In general, at least in the case of residential burglary, the evidence suggests that crime is more likely to occur on more accessible street segments.…”

Impact of Housing Design on Crime

“…Hillier and Sahbaz's results suggested that the higher the number of sides on which a dwelling is exposed (high rise flats above the ground floor not at all; detached houses on all four sides), the more vulnerable a property is to burglary. In a similar vein, properties located on a corner plot have been associated with higher risks of burglary (see Armitage et al 2011 In line with crime pattern theory, properties that are more likely to fall within offenders' 'awareness space' are at higher risk of crime. For example, houses that are located within proximity to a road junction, a main road, public footpaths, a commercial business establishment, a park, church or main road have all been shown to be at higher risk of burglary (Winchester and Jackson, 1982;Groff and La Vigne, 2001;Armitage, 2006).…”

“…Housing estates that are situated on key routes, or provide short cuts from one place to another inhibit defensible space and diminish residents' abilities to exhibit territoriality. Several studies found that being located on a true cul-de-sac (with no pedestrian and vehicular connections) reduced the risk of victimisation (Armitage, 2006;Armitage et al, 2011;Johnson and Bowers, 2010). Other studies have shown that the closure of streets can lead to a reduction in crime levels (Zavoski et al, 1999).…”