planning and crime
The kind of places that would be built, if the fear of crime is embedded as a primary consideration, would be horrific, intolerable and unsustainable...it starts with the chopping down of trees to allow the sweep of the CCTV system, moves on to the elimination of all soft landscaping, the closing of alleys jitties and ginnels, the installation of bright lights, the erection of barriers, the enclosure of public streets in private malls, and the celebration of the cul-de-sac...
So says David Lock, UK-based urban designer and theorist (see RUDI's urban agenda forum topic). But what do YOU say? Join RUDI's FORUM and express yourself. Its FREE to use you just need to login to participate. It's the place to get your views across to more than 10,000 urban design and placemaking professionals. Make a difference!
I am a policy analyst and planner based in Tallinn,Estonia developing the NGO Baltic Crime Prevention Practitioners Association that promotes evidence based policy and practces in criminal justice and crime prevention. My MES is from the Faculy of Environmental Studies at York Univesity in Toronto. Canada way back in 1973. I enjoyed David Lock note which was almost as negative and simplistic as ALO Stepehn Town and his comments about the APA SafeScape model. Stepehn Town was one of the authors of the Design Against Crime in 2003 and has written articles stating that New Urbanism increases crime.
ALO and CRO are just the UK Police terms for the offficers responsible for working as Architectural Liaison Officer and Crime Reduction Officer re their Secured by Design model. David may see such police jargon as having Darth Vader associations but the Force ALO just means that he is the main officer representing the local police service in this area of responsibility. We are talking about 2 cultures that really dont understand each other very well. Some of my best friends are police officers and others are planners. The best book on the issues is Ian Colquoun Design Out Crime.
Planners and designers may also want to look atthe work of Paul Ekblom who is the Associate Director, Design Against Crime Research Centre, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Paul argues that designers have to start including issues of crime prevention and community safety as priorities as much as any other desgn issue. Good design should promote inclusion, quality of urban life,sustainability and crime prevention. I thnik that Stephen Town and David Lock both need to listen and learn from each other.
Hope to hear from other dsigners and planners.
I am now writing a POP Guide for the Centre for Problem Oriented Policng in the US on Crime and Disorder in Parks. The POP stands for Problem Oriented Policing and uses a situational prvention&crime science approach-which is disliked by many macrosciologists and mainstream criminologists.
would love to hear from urban designers and planners about your ideas and concerns re urban park design,crime and policing. Any suggestions that you want to make would be most appreciated. My skype is jimhilborn. Take care, Jim Hilborn.MES.