Designing Safe Communities and Neighborhoods
Randy Atlas Ph.D., AIA, CPP	© & Author Info

Abstract

How do you promote an individual’s sense of dignity, and self -sufficiency while at the same time establishing a sense of community? The answer may be a mixture of New Urbanism idealism and down to earth Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) pragmatism.

1. The Neighborhood has a discernable center and an edge. The creation of the focus and limit forms boundaries to define a social identity and sense of community. A "circling of the wagons," if you will, through the use of infrastructure and natural barriers to form the boundary. The center is often a square or green, and sometimes a busy or memorable street intersection. A transit stop would be located at this center. The incorporation of public transportation becomes an integral factor in the success of the planned community as it hopes to disengage itself from the use of the automobile. "Public transportation is made possible by clustering pedestrian neighborhoods and offices along lines that can be readily serviced by buses, trolleys or light rail lines." (1) This transit center becomes even more important in the social order of the community as it moves away from the personal automobile use, and transportation outside of the neighborhood is dependent upon public transit. The transition towards public transit creates a greater need for a recognized center and station point for commuting and social interaction.

2. Certain prominent sites are reserved for civic buildings. Buildings for meeting, education, religion, or culture are located at the termination of streets or vistas at the Neighborhood center. Civic buildings, planned in coordination with public open spaces, are prominently sited, ideally terminating vistas and enclosing streets to serve as landmarks. These "landmarks" serve dual roles of supporting the public infrastructure necessary for the community and fostering a sense of civic pride. The use of public infrastructure such as post offices, meeting halls, police departments, fire departments, courthouses, and etc., gives form and hierarchy to the neighborhood core. The neighborhood core is the "downtown," and must support the basic needs of the family.

3. Buildings at the neighborhood center are placed close to the street. This creates a strong sense of place. The placement of buildings in a uniform facade close to the street defines the space of an intimate street. Through this compaction of the street a difference in scale is achieved. The feel of the urban city form is created for the core downtown, making the space "feel" different to the user, both the pedestrian and the driver. The streets are made "skinny." The recognized change in scale, form, and texture brings a different life to the space and through detailing, the street is relinquished to the pedestrian. "Narrow streets - as little as 26 feet wide - and tight, right-angled corners are a lot easier for walkers, and probably safer as well, because they force drivers to slow down." (2)

4. Most of the dwellings are within a five-minute walk of the center. This distance averages one-quarter of a mile. Herein lies the crux of the issue of the walkability of the town design. The five-minute walk is not only to the center of town, but to what is necessary to allow the residents to access the necessities of life without the use of the automobile. This also strengthens the argument for the incorporation of civic infrastructure at a central location or town center for ease of access and meeting. The concepts and codes restricting the use of the car within the structure of the community upon which the development is based will be defeated without the presence of a strong physical and economic town center. If residents are forced outside of the community to fulfill common household needs then community will not only stop being a viable walking community but it will also become dependant upon a neighboring metropolis or city.

"The well structured neighborhood is the springboard for our relationship to a larger world. It is particularly important to two age groups: adolescents and the elderly." (3) Reorienting the neighborhood to a pedestrian nature allows both the elderly and young to be active participants in the community through a more viable mode of transportation. The modern city is planned around the use of an automobile for all facets of life, leaving those without at a disadvantage.

5. There are a variety of dwelling types within the neighborhood. These usually take the form of houses, rowhouses, apartments, and mixed-use, such that younger and older people, singles and families, the poor and the wealthy may find places to live. Housing types are varied in size, type and price to differentiate the kind of mix found in the city. Diversity within the community allows for growth and learning, of all social and economic strata, for all those who participate. This is contrary to modern developments. "So the new subdivisions go up behind ocher-colored stucco walls, six feet high, with guards and gates between the public roads and the inner sanctum of the residential streets. Other kinds of barriers defend something nearly as dear to suburbanites as their own skins, property values. Homeowners are isolated by design from apartments, shops, public squares, or anything else that might attract people with less money or of a different race. Deed restrictions and community associations see to it that no one will ever bring down the tone of the neighborhood by turning his living room into a beauty parlor. Success for a development lies in freezing for eternity the social and economic class of the original purchasers." (4)

6. A small ancillary building is permitted within the backyard of each house. It may be used as one rental unit, or as a place of work. This perhaps takes on the greater role of displacing the conventional two-car garage allowing for the reinvention of the porch. "The porch becomes a symbolic element of neighborliness," (5) Richard Wagner of Goucher College in Baltimore states. (Cosco, 1995) The porch provides a safe place for social interaction with the community through the proximity of the house to the street and the incorporation of sidewalks to encourage walking. A stronger relationship is formed with the casual passerby, as well as, neighbors.

7. There are small playgrounds quite near every dwelling. This distance should not be more than one-eighth of a mile. Squares and parks distributed throughout the neighborhoods; designed as settings for informal social activity and recreation as well as larger civic gatherings. The importance of these gathering spaces in the urban fabric must not be overlooked as to its role in creating a sense of togetherness and to serve as a watch point for the neighborhood.

The use of designated play areas provides space for children and adults to meet in the absence of large lots. The distance of one-eighth mile also keeps children within a discernable neighborhood boundary. The intensified awareness of the pedestrian and the bicycle allows children to safely commute within the area.

8. There is an elementary school close enough so that most children can walk from their dwelling. This distance should not be more than one mile. "The research shows that the optimum size for elementary schools is under 500 students, and that 1,000 students seems to be a threshold for gang formation in high schools. The small elementary school is best located in a greenbelt serving at most two to three neighborhoods." (6)

In the age of both parents having full time occupations, the ability of the child to take on a more independent role in the family and society is created in the small school system. This system provides the children with better teacher to student ratios encouraging a higher degree of learning and independence.

9. The streets within the Neighborhood are a connected grid network. This provides a variety of itineraries and disperses traffic congestion. Traffic congestion is looked at in two fashions, through that of the driver and through that of the pedestrian. The incorporation of a grid network provides alternate routes and "shortcuts" but also further encourages walking within the community by the breakdown of long blocks. By car, getting to the other side of the block may take only a few seconds , however on the long, winding block of the suburbs this may seem insurmountable. The breakup of the block through new streets and alleyways permits the resident to walk, not drive, to the corner store. The goal of the successful walking community is to make driving more of a hassle than to walk for the same task even if at the same distance.

10. The streets are relatively narrow and shaded by rows of trees. This slows down traffic, creating an environment for the pedestrian and the bicycle. Walking is encouraged by addition of sidewalks, shade trees, front porches, narrow streets, and the inclusion of commercial, recreational, occupational and worship areas located a short walk away from the houses. Creating pleasant walking paths promotes residential foot traffic to the normal daily-life activities. The perception of risk in walking is reduced when there is less traffic and barriers are provided between the pedestrian and danger. The use of trees, lighting and parked cars defines the areas of for this protection.

11. Parking lots and garage doors rarely face the streets. Parking is relegated to the rear of buildings, usually accessed by alleys. Moving the garage to an ancillary building at the back or side of the house removes the car, and replaces the porch. Parking in commercial areas follow suit with moving the building forward to face the street, forming the outdoor mall, and placing parking spaces in the inner block, or designated landscaped areas. The car is relegated to the back seat, pardon the pun, and the design is geared toward the experience of the pedestrian.

12. There are shops and offices at the core and edge of the Neighborhood. The shops should be sufficiently varied to supply the weekly needs of a household. A convenience store is the most important among them, as it allows for residents to meet the essential needs without needing to travel a distance that might require a car. The variety of stores and business is important to the economic base of the community, providing necessary goods and services, as well as, jobs and production, for a sustainable community.

13. The neighborhood is organized to be self-governing. A formal association debates and decides on matters of maintenance, security, and physical change. Although this has the makings of a super-charged condominium association, the residents are able to assume a more responsible role in the growth of their community. A sense of ownership and communal partnership fosters continued maintenance, growth, and collective security.

In 1998, the Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD), granted a total of $507 million to 22 cities in 16 states across the country for HOPE VI Revitalization Programs for Severely Distressed Public Housing. The money will be given to local public housing authorities to overcome crowding, poverty, and crime to create low-rise, private, single-family and duplex structures integrated into the surrounding community. (AIArchitect, Dec. 1998).

Architects of the grant projects have developed residential designs that combine New Urbanism concepts with a rigorously practical approach of CPTED. The designers and planners have created neighborhoods that foster a sense of community and connect to surrounding neighborhoods by defining public versus private spaces, establishing definable and defensible spaces, and addressing the needs for commercial and pedestrian activity. The goal was to create urban in-fill residential communities that blend into surrounding neighborhoods, while removing the stigma of public housing by creating mixed -income, mixed -use neighborhoods.

These ideas tie into the New Urbanism and Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) principles established in the 1980’s. New Urbanism is an architectural planning movement aimed at creating new towns and neighborhoods based on traditional town design principles. Seeking to solve the problems of sprawl and modern suburbia, New Urbanism focuses on creating communities based on a more human scale. This scale is achieved through the use of codes that control density, vehicular traffic, zoning, and other key elements to creating a neo-traditional town. "Neo-traditional towns look and work like back streets of a comfortable pre-World War II city, with a rich mix of housing types, cultural centers and shopping districts within walking distance and a vibrant public personality." (7)

The structuring of New Urbanist towns begins with the aspirations and scale of its user. The creation of stable communities depends on a socially, economically, and physically diverse mix of residents intent on participating within the community. The life of the city or town is a result of the activity that takes place within it. It is this activity that is not only intended to create the city network, but also to develop a more socially responsible attitude toward the protection and growth of the community. "From helping to maintain it, to initiating security, education or employment programs, to willingly committing resources to ensure the health of it, active, engaged residents can become the neighborhood’s biggest asset." (8)

The needs of the user are emphasized as the intent of the created environment is to build communities, not just houses. Through a breakdown of scales to the pedestrian nature of the block, building, and street, the detailed guidelines of zoning and design ensure that the built forms are inter-related with the consideration of the surrounding, walking environment.

To date, HUD has awarded almost $3 billion for 104 HOPE VI grants. The HOPE VI program strives to revitalize communities with physical improvements to public housing, management improvements, and social and community services to address residents' needs by replacing the most severely depressed public-housing units in the country, and giving residents the chance to rebuild their lives, by offering a clean, safe, decent place to live. The philosophy of the HOPE VI developments is to build communities rather than institutions; to build neighborhoods, not projects.

In recent years, the designing of traditional towns and communities has been embraced by developers, homebuilders, civic officials, and HUD, but, has not been widely accepted in academia, where modernism rules. (Architectural Record, Nov. 1998: 48). Critics suggest that New Urbanism hasn’t developed a sophisticated vocabulary, and suffers from lack of clarity it its use of forms, often manifesting in the form of "gated communities."

In 1997, it was estimated that there were in excess of 20,000 gated communities, housing over 3 million housing units (Blakely. Fortress America, 1997:7). As many as 16 million Americans live in gated communities, (Bruce Benson, To Serve and Protect: Privitization and Community in Criminal Justice, New York University Press, 1998). In some areas, citizens have moved from organizing neighborhood watches to prevent crime, to orchestrating campaigns to force undesirable neighbors to move out.

WHAT IS A NEIGHBORHOOD?

Neighborhoods are a mixture of people and uses. The delicate balance of traffic between pedestrian and vehicular activity can make a neighborhoods thrive or die.

Conventional traffic engineers abhor road congestion, viewing it as the blight of modern cities. Yet, in recent years a school of unconventional traffic engineers has emerged that views congestion as good—for pedestrians and businesses. According to City Routes, City Rights ( Conservation law Foundation, Mass. 1998), "streets should serve everyone who uses them , not just drivers." The concept of livable or walkable communities is consistent with the precepts of New Urbanism and CPTED. Walkable communities do pose a paradox however. Congested streets with shoppers and residents are good for local business, but generate so much traffic the worsen gridlock. Examples of successful walkable communities are South Beach (Miami Beach), Main Street in Miami Lakes, Mizner Place in Boca Raton, and the Beach area of Toronto.

Building or widening roads has been the traditional strategy to deal with traffic congestion, even in dense urban areas where houses and shops simply would be bulldozed if they stood in the way. That is how Overtown, Miami’s historic black district, vanished as a livable or walkable community in the1960’s. Construction of Interstate 95 sliced the community in half, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses and displacing thousands of families. Some communities are burying their expressways, so it can free up large amounts of valuable real estate and not provide the visual eyesore and physical obtrusions of traffic barriers.

Does the New urbanism strategies of mixed use, mixed income, and five minute walking radius which uses focused congestion of pedestrian and vehicular activity, conflict with the CPTED goal of avoiding conflicting use of non-residents trespassing and having unauthorized access into a neighborhood? It is this conflict which has brought the debate about gated and barricaded communities to a head.

WHAT ARE SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS?

Crime in the U.S. has decreased, and yet my personal experience is that people do not feel safer. When persons do not feel safe, they act in different ways to protect their property and persons. Whether the threat is from the workplace, threats of terrorism, or street crime, crime impacts how we live and where we live.

From 1992 through 1996, an average of 2 million people a year were victims of workplace violence, according to the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of justice Statistics (BJS) revealed in a new report. Every workday, nearly 8000 Americans are violently attacked or threatened with a violent attack at work or while working outside the office.

The growth of the private security industry suggests that Americans increasingly believe that public law enforcement can not protect them against the threat of crime. There are three times as many private security officers as public police, (Benson, 1998).

Crime rates in communities have often been though to be associated with a wide variety of social problems, including the degree of community alienation, fear of crime, lowered housing values, and the associated erosion of the community’s tax base. Of these, property values was on of the most measurable, according to Dr. Steven Stack of Wayne State University, Department of Criminal Justice (Criminal Justice News,1998). Crime had an independent effect of property values according to Stack’s Study. An increase in 1000 crimes/100,000 population was associated with a decline in house values of $9000/house. For a community with 10,000 homes, this would amount to a $90,000,000 reduction in the tax base. As crime erodes the tax base of a community, there can be significant reductions in funds for education and other public services.

In contrast, according to Stack (Crime and Housing Values in Detroit 1980 -1990, Journal of Crime and Justice, 20(1), 1997) persons that reside in safe communities that control the increase of crime, enjoy greater appreciation in the values of their homes, better schools, and other public services.

WHAT IS CPTED AND SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN?

CPTED’s six environmental strategies are natural access control, natural surveillance, creating a sense of territoriality, management strategies, maintenance upkeep, and legitimate activity support. "Natural access control is designed to limit easy access to a crime target and to create a perception of risk in offenders. Natural surveillance is directed primarily toward keeping intruders under observation. Territoriality suggests that physical design can create or extend the user’s sphere of influence so that users develop a sense of proprietorship or ownership in the security of the environment." (9) "The term natural," as is used above, "refers to deriving access control and surveillance results as a byproduct of the normal and routine use of the environment." (10) "Natural strategies exploit the opportunities of the given environment to both naturally and routinely facilitate access control and surveillance, and to reinforce positive behavior in the use of the environment. The concept reflects a preference, where feasible, to reinforce existing or new activities, or to otherwise reinforce the behavior of environment users so that crime prevention flows naturally and routinely from the activity being promoted." (11) This is coordinated through the manipulation of the designed environment to create relationships to "promote more responsiveness by users in protecting their territory (e.g. More security awareness, reporting, reacting) and promote greater perception of risk to offenders." (12)

By clearly declaring ownership of space and rule setting, the excuses for the offender are removed. The increased risks and reduction of rewards are the goals of situational crime prevention. "Situational Crime Prevention is a crime prevention approach which focuses on reducing opportunities for crime through environmental change. Situational Crime Prevention is divided into three main approaches: 1) increasing the effort needed to commit crime, 2) increasing the risks associated with crime, and 3) reducing the rewards of crime, and 4) removing the excuses for criminal behavior." (13)

Through boundary or border definition, the user and the observer must be able to recognize space as public or private. The recognition of ownership allows for those illegitimate users to be spotted. The intention of the potential offender is to commit an act without detection or risk of being recognized. The defining of boundaries declares an ownership of space and thus creating a sense of territoriality. The declared space, when projected at a human scale, may then reach a point of then becoming defensible.

Transitional zones are a form of boundary definition and access control. It is a space where the user is made more clearly aware through the design of the environment that a change of ownership is taking place. The effort made to mark the entrance into the space reduces the range of excuses for improper behavior.

The relocation of gathering spaces to areas of good natural surveillance and access control enables those spaces to become more active and likely to support the activity, encouraging public participation.

This becomes important in the public sector with the selection of sites for civic buildings and gathering spaces. The encouragement of participation within the community is fostered by the feeling of safety and pride in the designed space.

The premise of safety in numbers is used as safe activities bring normal or safe users as magnets to control behavior. The unsafe location must be within reason with respect to the activity pursued. A critical density of users must be reached to change the acceptability of behavior patterns.

Vulnerable activities placed in areas of good natural surveillance and controlled space allows for the owners of the space to increase the perception of risk to offenders. The controlled atmosphere maintains a level of accountability for the offender and provides security to those attempting to act in accordance.

Defining the boundaries of ownership through the use of distance, natural terrain, and landscape barriers. This may be accomplished by proper land planning and design of the landscape. This process in effect results in a lower general cost to the owner and may create spaces more conducive to the natural environment.

The effective use of space lowers risk, as the density of space may be regulated for optimum physical and social attributes. The activities create a sense of place and controls behavior through recognition of the intended user. Proper scheduling legitimizes various users to achieve their individual goals while in accordance with the structure of the community.

8. Redesign or revamp space to increase the perception of natural surveillance.

Natural surveillance is simply the presence of eyes. The offender only perceives risk when able to be observed, thus through the removal of hiding places and the incorporation of improved sitelines, both natural and mechanical, increases the risk of detection, deterring the presence of offenders. The redesign of space must also pertain to the nature of the user, so as to increase the ability of the space to support more legitimate users.

More is not always better as objects in the environment may create distance and isolation. The use of walls and objects to provide protection must be used properly. Communication and observance of the user increases the perception of natural surveillance. The opaque wall defines ownership but may also serve as a hiding place or barrier from protection on the outside. The walls also become obstacles for the legitimate users, i.e. police and rescue personnel. Open space lowers the cost of construction and improves natural surveillance of the environment in allowing for visual connection.

GATED COMMUNITY CRIME STUDY

A study was undertaken to evaluate the changing crime patterns of four gated communities and one city that extensively uses street closures in South Florida.

The gatehouses or guardgates screen all non-residents entering the neighborhood by having the car stop at a stop sign, and then writing the license plate of the car entering on a daily time log. The guard then allows entry of the car by lifting up a gate.

Keystone Point, located in North Miami, is a residential area comprised of six islands, and has three land entrances. The Keystone Point Community is east of Biscayne Boulevard and surrounded by Biscayne Bay. The residents are professionals in middle to upper income class. The Guardgate for Keystone Point was installed in May of 1991. Crime data was analyzed from 1990 to 1997. Burglary and theft decreased dramatically over the study period. There was a 14% decrease in theft and a 54% decrease for burglary crimes. However, during the eight years of study, there were spikes of crime increases, and then a subsequent decrease. The pattern of the crime was a wave, of ebbing and flowing up and down.

The Belle Meade community, located within the City of Miami, is predominately white middle class single-family homeowners. The community is comprised of almost 400 homes that are east of Biscayne Boulevard and surrounded by Biscayne Bay. The residents started lobbying for increased security measures since 1982 and received five street barricades in 1987. The residents petitioned the Dade County Commissioners for approval to set up a special taxing district to pay for guards and a guardhouse. In 1991, a guardhouse was installed on Belle Meade Island, which supports 52 homes. A second guardhouse was added to the primary entrance to the entire Belle Meade area in 1992. All vehicular traffic in to Belle Meade passes through the gates. The barricades or guardhouse does not affect pedestrian traffic or those approaching by water. Crime data was gathered and analyzed from 1985 to 1996. The residents of Belle Meade have the perception that crime has gone down in their area, while crime reports show that the rate of crime has remained relatively constant. Robbery has decreased, burglary has decreased, larceny has stayed relatively constant, as has aggravated assault. Since the barricades were put in 1987, homes have doubled in value.

The findings suggest: By the number of incidents reported for each crime in the Keystone Point area, it is my conclusion that the gates do not make a significant difference in the increase or decrease of crime or deterrence to criminals. It does make the residents feel safer, and it does increase the real estate value of the property and surrounding area.

In the City of Miami Shores, Florida, there appears to be a positive real estate value relationship with street closures. In Miami Shores, the assessed value of the real estate was depreciating during the late eighties, or Miami Vice Years, and after the street closure program went into effect in 1989, the assessed value of real estate has been steadily climbing. In just the last four years, there was a 6.12% increase from 1994 to 1995, a 0.86 % increase from 1995 to 1996, a 0.03% increase from 1996 to 1997, and a 3.72 % increase from 1997 to 1998.

While some residents opposed the barricade, mostly due to the inconvenience of not having immediate access to their homes, the majority of the residents (as evidenced by several voter referendums) supports the traffic calming and closures measures. The barriers serve as a deterrence to crime, reduces unwanted cross traffic, and increases the difficulty for the criminal to commit crime and easily escape to the interstate and flee.

A WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING

Much of the dissimilarity between the TND and CPTED results from the perception of the respective goals. New Urbanism is viewed as a planning principle, mainly of new towns and developments. Where Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design is seen as a special security tactic to be employed to fix public housing or urban in-fill design.

The ownership of space (or sense of) is the key to the relation of the two strategies. Developing a sense of territoriality is a main CPTED principle and has done much to shape the ideals of New Urbanism. "In order to nurture a feeling of pride and sense of belonging and ownership it is important to design buildings or developments that are a collection of individual spaces... People need and want to have space they consider theirs and where they can express themselves." (14) Perhaps now more than ever is the design of the neighborhood and home environment important. The advance of technology is allowing for more home offices and less need for travel. This is a goal of New Urbanism, to incorporate all the responsibilities of everyday life into a smaller distance making a walkable community neighborhood. A defined space where one can feel safe in both home and work raises the current level of the quality of life. This point is overlooked by many, as CPTED serves to raise the quality of life through the creation of a sense of safety and the promotion of a healthier community.

The crux of differences between the strategies is the perception of the relation of each strategy to the built development. The perception of the strategies has resulted in some conflict in the scope of work and the recognition of strategies. The recognition of strategies is more tenuous to the details of the designed space. CPTED is recognized as a security precept first and thus relegated to barbed wire and bars on windows, or so it is perceived. The understanding is made unclear by a lack of knowledge of the symbolic and the real barriers. The real barrier is that which will directly deny ones ability to occupy a defined space, where as a symbolic barrier is a definer of space that may be overcome and is primarily for visual clarity. The incorporation of guidelines for the use of designed white picket fences is more than creating a cute traditional town, it is enforcing a definition of private versus public space. The three to four foot wood picket will not stop the hardened thief but it makes clear definition that unwanted users are obvious.

Conflict arises in the discussion of street infrastructure in the layout of the neighborhood. New Urbanism proposes a fine network of interconnecting streets. In contrast, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design selects the close of streets to form "mini-neighborhoods" and cul-de-sacs, where traffic flow is restricted to arterial roads within the community. The restriction of street entrances to these main points further creates the sense of community and the identification of illegitimate users. The street will have a lower vehicular activity level and would then be able to become inhabited with pedestrian traffic, i.e. children and adults playing. "An interconnecting pattern of streets provides multiple routes that diffuse traffic congestion." (15) states New Urbanism. The question created is does this provide to many routes of departure by unwanted users and offenders. "Limiting access and egress to one opening would mean that criminals and their clients would have to enter a small mini-neighborhood to transact their business, and they would have to leave the same way they had come in. There would no longer be a multitude of escape routes. A call to the police by residents would mean that criminals would meet the police on their way out." (16) The community awareness brings a sense of responsibility and encourages an active participation of the residents to police their own environment. The perceived territoriality and natural surveillance, and the limitation of escape routes deter offenders, as criminal activities become too risky. The goal is not to create a series of fortressed, walled communities cutoff from the rest of society, but to empower residents and their role in the community.

The inherent nature to build safer towns based on human response is seen in the reversion of planning and design principles to the traditional neighborhood design. The use of the porch in New Urbanist towns, is a particular example of this reversion, as it has both the role of an outside room supporting a response to the climatic environment and a media for social interaction. The presence of the social interaction allows for another CPTED principle to be employed, natural surveillance. Natural surveillance is implemented through a mix of activities and social interaction.

The encouragement of the walking community brings about the natural community crime watch with concerned citizens to create natural surveillance and access control through territoriality. The presence of legitimate users serves notice to the potential offender that a space has defined ownership through the physical design detailing and the social aspects of user interaction. The interaction of residents within the neighborhood also strengthens the sense of togetherness and community identity.

The importance of a social identity is supported by the incorporation of town commercial centers and the local stores into the fabric of the community. "The old concept of the neighborhood store, with loyal repeat customers who protected their local businesses, ended after World War II. People used to live in apartments above retail businesses, thus providing the perception of surveillance at night and on weekends. However, stores and shopping centers now stand as islands within mixed land use areas that are constantly changing and often volatile, both financially and socially... These new development activities also changed the social environment. People no longer recognized each other when they went shopping. Territorial identity and proprietary concerns for the old neighborhood store vanished." (17)

The lack of social responsibility in today’s society is not the inherent nature of most human beings, but is brought about through the breakup of the neighborhood core. The simple fact of town and residential life of modern day suburbia is that residents do not recognize their own neighbors in some cases. The absence of a basic acquaintance relationship is enough to disassociate one from felling responsible to help another. Crimes are often committed in plain daylight and even in crowded public areas as observers "don’t want to be involved". The impact is of a social nature but must also be contemplated as a response to the designed environment. The environment in its most effective state empowers the user to actively participate in the policing of their own environment. " ‘Policing’ is not intended to evoke a paranoid vision but refers to the oldest concept in the Western political tradition: the responsibility of each citizen to ensure the functioning of the polis." (18) Social identity for the legitimate user creates a natural surveillance and territoriality, providing a space for safe activity.

Places of public structure are important to the level of civic pride and social identity of the community. New Urbanism recognizes the importance of these structures with the intent of placing them terminating streets or vistas, to create the aura of personifying those ideals it intends uphold. CPTED recognizes the importance of the strategy as it creates landmarks and places of reference for clarity of direction and sightlines for observation. Courthouses, schools, places of worship, and other such structures have many varied users and thus may have conflicts. The importance of the design, definition and designation of space in these areas to incorporate the strategies of CPTED will allow for the spaces to emulate the socially responsible democratic ideals for which they were intended. The confidence the public is destroyed if the town hall or courthouse is unsafe for the residents to attend meetings and events, leading to a breakdown of the community identity and territoriality.

Knowledge of such subtleties allows for the recognition of shared concepts in the design and guidelines of New Urbanist and CPTED communities. The misunderstood perception is detrimental to the cause of both philosophies, as they are hybrid of each other. Thus, where one may say that CPTED is for "inner city housing projects" and New Urbanism is for the design of "cute neo-traditional towns," in reality the strengths lie in their cooperation. New Urbanist towns and developments are safer communities than may at first appear with the incorporation of CPTED concepts of territoriality, natural surveillance and access control. Those projects designed or retrofitted with CPTED concepts do in turn incorporate New Urbanist strategies of promoting neighborhood identity, appropriate siting of buildings and the creation of space. The scope of work that must be done may now be understood as a collaboration of philosophies to create a more unified effort of design, not the traditional roles of creative design versus security. The effects of the design go beyond simply making attractive spaces. The social responsibility of the design will now enable the form and detail of the space to allow its function to take place effectively and safely.

The future of planning and design lies in the awareness and use of CPTED and New Urbanism principles to provide safe structures and communities for a society that seems to be in decline. The results will prove to be physically successful as well as making a change in the social structure and relationship of society.

CONCLUSIONS

Attitudes are changing and allowing the further incorporation of both strategies in future development. HUD is at the forefront, as it is initiating the steps of bringing the two together with the development and redevelopment of many new public sites. "More than 75% of the sites will use New Urbanism and CPTED principles to create what seem to be well-designed developments that reflect and are sensitive to neighboring communities; they will likely set a new standard for public housing." (19) Although the perception may be heightened of CPTED as a fix to current development, it is important to note that these principles are most effective when used in the initial planning stages.

Retrofitting is waiting until too late and is very costly in the time and consequences lost to the lack of safety and security. Crowe states, "the implementation of CPTED strategies to be a matter of better choices in the planning and design stages of a project, thus cost is not an issue." (20) Incorporation of these principles at he early stages avoids the problems of many of today’s crime-ridden cities and towns.

New Urbanism is becoming a new source of fixing today’s urban scale problems with projects in Minneapolis, Cleveland, and Maryland. Henry G. Cisneros, Secretary of HUD, has called for the implementation of New Urbanism and CPTED in urban revitalization grants which were recently issued. Stressing the use of small-scale communities, Cisneros states, "residents have a better idea about who belongs there and who is intruding...involved residents can quickly spot and report suspicious activity. Use of the concept of defensible space has been successful in Washington, D.C., the South Bronx, and Dayton, and in other areas where it can work." (21) Crime, and the fear it produces, does have a profound impact on our daily lives.

Notes

1. Consumer Reports

2. Malone, Maggie, et al. (1995, May 15) "15 Ways to Fix the Suburbs." Newsweek. p. 47.

3. Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth. (p.58) "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child."

4. Alder, Jerry. (1995, May 15) "Bye-Bye Suburban Dream." Newsweek. p. 44.

5. Cosco, John. "Porches"

6. Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth. "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child." p. 58.

7. Consumer Reports

8. Hope VI Developments, p. 3.

9. Richards, Susan J. "Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design." Training Course Overview, Texas: Chuchill International, Inc. 1994, p. 2.

10. Crowe, Timothy. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. p. 29.

11. Crowe, Timothy, CPTED, p. 31.

12. Crowe, Timothy. CPTED, p. 31.

13. Clarke, Ronald. Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies., Albany: Harrow and Heston, 1992, p. 13.

14. Hope VI Developments. Aug/Sept 1996, p. 4.

15. Katz, Peter. (1994) The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., p. xix.

16. Nasar, Jack L. And Brown, Barbara B. (1996) Public and Private Spaces. Oklahoma: The Environmental Design Research Association, p. 21.

17. Fennely, Lawrence J. And Lombardi, John H. (1997) Spotlight on Security for Real Esatate Managers. Chicago: Institute of Real Estate Managers, p. 104.

18. Newman, Oscar. (1973) Defensible Space: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, p. 3.

19. Hope IV Developments (1996, November) p. 2.

20. Mills, Kyle M. "Crime prevention through environmental design: public facilities applications and strategies." p. 112.

21. (1995, October 23) "Cisneros Calls for ‘New Urbanism’ Stressing Small-Scale Communities." MDR Current Developments. p. 361

References

Malone, Maggie, et al. (1995, May 15) "15 Ways to Fix the Suburbs." Newsweek. pp. 47-53.

Adler, Jerry. (1995, May 15) "Bye-Bye Suburban Dream." Newsweek. pp. 41-45.

Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth. "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child." pp. 59-67.

Duany, Andres and Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth. (1996, January) "The Thirteen Points of Traditional Neighborhood Development." FFF Newsletter. pp. 2-3.

Katz, Peter. (1994) The New Urbanism. McGraw-Hill, Inc.: New York.

Clarke, Ronald V. (1992) Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies. Harrow and Heston: Albany.

Crowe, Timothy D. (1991) Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Butterworth-Heinemann: Boston.

Crowe, Timothy D. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: A Basic Training Manual.

Richards, Susan J. (1994) Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: Training Course Overview. Churchill International, Inc.: Texas.

Mills, Kyle M. (1996, July) "Crime prevention through environmental design: public facilities and applications and strategies." Security Journal. Elsevier: New York, pp.109-115.

Fennelly, Lawrence J. And Lombardi, John H. (1997) Spotlight on Security for Real Estate Managers. Chicago: IREM Institute of Real Estate Management, pp. 100-109.

Nasar, Jack L. And Brown, Barbara B. (1996) Public and Private Places. The Environmental Design Research Association: Oklahoma.

Randy Atlas Ph.D., AIA, CPP
for more info check out http://www.CPTED-Security.com