Crime prevention based on city planning and architectural design can be predominantly offender-oriented or victim-oriented. A victim-oriented approach based on appropriate design of the physical and social environment involves modifying the patterns of opportunities for crime to the disadvantage of the potential offender. In urban planning, offender-oriented prevention involves creating within communities an infrastructure to meet the needs of residents and to compensate for any socialization deficits of children and adolescents. The Federal Republic of Germany has only had interdisciplinary discussions of problems related to urban planning, architecture, and crime for a few years. Conclusions that emerged from one symposium on the subject indicated that the amenity value of city centers should be increased in residential terms (a better mix of residential and service areas); further development of slums and ghettos must be prevented; and new forms of identification, orientation, and communication must be developed in large new housing complexes. In general, authorities who exercise formal social control should only become involved when informal controls in problem areas are ineffective. The paper discusses a study of crime in residential complexes and 'crime-preventive' architecture in Munich and Regensburg which found that defensible space in a strictly architectural sense did not influence the level of crime. A concluding discussion focuses on a program planned to combine various forms of crime prevention and architectural design features. A total of 24 references and 1 diagram are provided.