Rachel Armitage
University of Huddersfield
Overview: This chapter is concerned with the extent to which the individual design features of the built environment (such as a house, school, shopping mall or hospital), as well as the natural environment surrounding those buildings, impact upon crime risk, and subsequently, how these features can be altered to reduce that level of risk. Thisapproach is known as Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED).
CPTED draws upon opportunity theories that assert that those involved in, or considering, criminality are influenced (to some extent) by their immediate environment. A full account of these theories is discussed elsewhere in this book, but to recap, the basic assertions are that for a crime to occur, there has to be a suitable target – in the case of burglary, a vulnerable property. There has to be a likely offender – someone motivated to commit this offence, and the absence of a capable guardian – a resident, neighbour or passer-by who would challenge the offender, call the police and draw attention to the potential event (Routine Activity Theory).
Opportunity theories also argue that offenders select targets based upon what they become aware of as they go about their day-to-day activities and move between the places that they frequent (see Crime Pattern Theory this volume), and that offenders will seek to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks when making decisions about their offending choices (see Rational Choice Perspective, this volume). Whilst it was C. Ray Jeffery (1971) who coined the phrase Crime Prevention through Environmental Design in his book of the same name, it is the more practical interventions suggested by the architect Oscar Newman (1972) that shaped the CPTED that that we see implemented by police, architects, planners and developers in the design, build and management of places and spaces today.
