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Design for Safe Neighborhoods: The Environmental Security Planning and Design Process

NCJ Number
148735
Author(s)
R A Gardiner
Date Published
1978
Length
93 pages
Annotation
This document outlines a comprehensive approach to environmental security (E/S) which relates the design of neighborhoods to the prevention of crime.
Abstract
Following an overview of the escalation of neighborhood crime, the report provides an historical overview of E/S, focusing on the concepts of urban village, urban fortress, and defensible space. Because of the relationship between crime and the physical environment, E/S allows neighborhoods to reorganize themselves in order to reduce competition, conflict, and the opportunity for crime and to allow residents to control and develop a sense of responsibility for their neighborhood. The E/S technical planning process consists of several phases: target area selection, data collection and mapping, data analysis, identification of crime-environment problems, alternative E/S solutions and strategies, implementation, and evaluation. The report uses case studies from four cities to illustrate the E/S concept.