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Crime Prevention Through Housing Design

NCJ Number
136221
Editor(s)
P Stollard
Date Published
1991
Length
105 pages
Annotation
This book provides guidance for architects, planners, and housing managers in the design of housing to deter crime.
Abstract
The first chapter provides a perspective on housing and environmental design and its effect on crime. It notes that such design is only one element of a broader strategy for reducing residential crime and the fear of crime. The second chapter considers a number of approaches to the analysis of security risks and the principal theories of security design. Theories of security design encompass the facilitation of social control, enclose/access control, the presence of a security force, and defensible space. The chapter advises that although there is general agreement on the principles that are important in the security of dwellings, the proposed methods or design options for achieving these stated objectives vary. The next chapter presents key principles relevant to housing design that serve the interests of security. These principles pertain to surveillance, the neighborhood environment, public and private spaces, and potential hiding places. The remaining chapters suggest how to apply these principles. They provide suggestions for the assessment of the design of existing estates; for the design processes for sites, flats, and houses; and for the construction process. Chapter references and 192-item bibliography