Developers Apply Certain Design Features, Management Practices to Prevent, Minimize On-Site Crime
By Nathan Petrillo
7 min read
IN RECENT YEARS, DEVELOPERS, police departments, and others have become increasingly interested in design and crime prevention as they relate to development and management of affordable rental housing. Preventing or reducing crime in affordable apartment properties, including low-income housing tax credit projects, provides a safer and more positive environment for residents, enhances the marketability of properties, and can reduce operating costs.
This field of study of design and crime prevention encompasses more than just architecture, and is dominated by two similar concepts: Defensible Space, and the more common Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
In 1996, architect and planner Oscar Newman wrote a publication on the subject, called Creating Defensible Space, for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In it, he wrote, “All Defensible Space programs have a common purpose: They restructure the physical layout of communities to allow residents to control the areas around their homes.”
A Web site on the subject operated by Washington State University, called The CPTED Page, attributes the CPTED term to a book by C. Ray Jeffrey, entitled, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. According to The CPTED Page (http://www.thecptedpage.wsu.edu), Defensible Space and CPTED differ in that the former “focuses less on directly affecting offender decision making, and more on encouraging a defensive or protective mindset (and thus behavior) by the public.” CPTED instead seeks to “dissuade offenders from committing crime by manipulating the physical environment in which those crimes occur.”
CPTED can be applied to everything from housing to parks to stores. Earlier in 2007, the American Institute of Architects updated its best practices fact sheet about CPTED, entitled Understanding Human Behavior Leads to Safer Environments. The fact sheet lists various CPTED architectural principles, drawn from a book by Timothy D. Crowe, such as creating easily identifiable boundaries, establishing clear transitions between public and private spaces, and facilitating natural surveillance.
Design Tips
The Affordable Housing Design Advisor Web site (http://www.designadvisor.org), also offers design tips for housing developments, including advice for enhancing security at properties. Many emphasize creating an environment where residents can easily observe their surroundings, thereby making criminals uncomfortable.
One tip, for instance, discourages large parking lots in favor of smaller lots placed closer to units that overlook them. Another says about entrances, “[e]mphasize the main entrance and place central and shared facilities there if possible.” A third says well-trafficked rooms (e.g., kitchens) should contain windows overlooking these areas, to make it easier to spot unusual activities. Also recommended are “adequate lighting, lockable gates and doors at all entrances to the site and the buildings, and video cameras with monitors,” and defined boundaries between public and private spaces.
The Community Safety Initiative of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which helps community developers form partnerships with police, uses “second generation” CPTED, according to Program Director Julia Ryan. Traditional CPTED principles are more common, she explains. “It works very well in some projects,” Ryan says, but LISC sees an opportunity to broaden it. LISC initiative’s use of CPTED takes into account tenant selection, economic mix, and other situational factors — not just design elements focused on access control and surveillance. For example, police can help screen tenants and shape lease language.
Ryan explains that it’s important to apply the CPTED elements to management practices and site use as well. If applied correctly, she says CPTED can reduce vacancy rates and costs. For example, preventing vandalism lowers maintenance expenditures.
LISC works to institute a framework for evaluation and dialogue rather than establishing a design checklist, says Ryan.
Ryan said there can be drawbacks from implementing CPTED incorrectly, especially if economic and social factors are ignored. For example, adding unnecessary lighting can increase costs without added benefits. Similarly, installing benches may attract residents and create a space uninviting to criminals at one property, while at another attract loiterers. Ryan emphasizes the need to work with police and community stakeholders so that context is considered when evaluating potential solutions.
Some critics say CPTED merely displaces crime. But Ryan sees it as a mechanism to disrupt criminals and make it more difficult for them to operate. She says it’s important to work with the surrounding neighborhood and police when using CPTED.
Principles in Practice
Over the past decade, the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) has focused on replacing dense, high-rise apartment buildings for non-elderly residents with low-rise developments. CPTED is one of several concepts used by the authority, according to PHA Executive Director Carl Greene. PHA also draws upon New Urbanism, which champions pedestrian-oriented communities.
Greene says affordable housing design has become more innovative since the 1990s. He credits some of the reasons to public housing authorities being freed of prior oneto- one housing unit replacement requirements, plus the introduction of new funding mechanisms. For example, he says housing tax credit encourages housing authorities to build units that reflect market demands because such transactions involve private partners.
One significant change the Philadelphia authority implemented involved restoring street patterns. PHA’s developments had been cut off from the city’s street pattern, instead using inward-facing streets that led to central areas. The streets were difficult to navigate — street names would change, and traffic patterns were unfriendly to police patrols, says Greene. “We re-introduced the street grid,” he says, and focused on providing traditional elements such as off-street parking and yards.
PHA changed its designs to resencourage “eyes on the street,” explains Greene. According to the Design Centre for CPTED, this concept generally refers to encouraging people to observe their surroundings.
Greene cautions that not every concept can be applied to every situation, and emphasizes the need to use knowledgeable professionals to help implement these ideas. In addition, he said it takes a largescale development using these techniques to have the greatest transformative effect on a neighborhood.
Since 1998, the Philadelphia housing authority has cut the number of its police offers from 200 to 38. PHA credits some of this reduction to its shift to low-rise developments, lessening the need for patrols at high-rises. The largest drop in crime has occurred at the authority’s housing credit properties.
PHA actively seeks outside funding from a variety of sources for crime prevention activities. In September 2007, it received a grant from the local U.S. Attorney’s office to help reduce drug crime in one public housing development, by fostering community activities.
Some added design or construction costs for security elements may be included in eligible basis costs when claiming the housing credit. Professional advice should be sought to determine what can and can’t be.
Beyond Design
Property management techniques also are important elements of PHA’s crime deterrence efforts. These encourage residents to get involved in neighborhood watch groups, and for the police department to interact with resident leaders. A telephone tip line is also available to residents to report suspicious activities, and PHA has begun placing surveillance cameras on street lights to monitor the public spaces around its developments.
Other developers prefer to minimize the use of cameras, such as Michaels Development Company, a Marlboro, NJ-based firm that designs, develops, owns, and manages housing credit properties throughout the U.S., including many communities developed under HUD’s HOPE VI program. The firm’s approach to crime deterrence focuses on creating partnerships with neighborhood organizations and fostering resident participation.
According to Michaels Development President Bob Greer, his firm first reaches out to a neighborhood nonprofit group to foster support for the new development and to help the company better understand the area. After the development is built, the company makes certain that the project’s community center offers a range of activities, from job skills training to after school programs. A resident group is formed as well, to give residents a voice. “We want them to have a sense of community,” says Greer.
Michaels Development also offers privately-funded scholarships for residents of all ages.
The company does use some design elements to help deter crime, such as short areas of fencing and smaller parking lots. It also avoids the use of central doors, long hallways, and pathways that could serve as a neighborhood shortcut through the development. “Everybody gets a front door and view to the street,” says Greer. This allows residents to see what’s going on around them.
– Nathan Petrillo
