Measuring the effects of the built environment on bus stop crime

Aims and method:

Seeks to understand how different environmental attributes in the vicinity of a bus stop can affect the incidence of crime. Uses a stratified random sample of sixty bus stops in downtown Los Angeles to examine the effects of environmental and land-use attributes on crime rates. Using descriptive statistics, correlations, regression and discriminant analyses, and matched-pair analysis, we find some relations between the existence or absence of certain environmental attributes and the incidence of crime.

Key findings:

· Crime rates were higher for bus stops near alleys, multifamily housing, liquor stores and cheque-cashing establishments, vacant buildings, and graffiti and litter.

· The presence or absence of certain characteristics in the bus stop microenvironment can affect crime: good visibility of the bus stop from its surroundings and the existence of bus shelters contributed to lower crime rates.

· Higher crime rates were noted at intersections with on-street parking, and higher rates of vehicle traffic were associated with lower crime rates.

Reference:

Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Liggett, R., Iseki, H., & Thurlow, W. (2001). Measuring the effects of built environment on bus stop crime. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 28(2), 255-280.

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1068/b2642r

Hot spots of fear and crime

Aims and method:

Examines the relationship between levels of crime and fear of crime and the physical built environment. The study utilised a variety of methods to study the relationships in Columbus, Ohio (USA) including user self-assessments, survey interviews on-site and as a reaction to a plan, interviews with police officers, and analysis of crime statistics.

Key findings:

· Crime and fear of crime concentrate in 'hot spots'

· Micro-level (neighbourhood) hot spots of fear relate to proximate (local) physical features.

· A variety of measures of fear show an increase in fear related to concealment for offenders, and blocked prospect and escape for victims.

· Fears in relation to these features may be reflected on campuses and public spaces, where policy calls for trimmed vegetation, lighting of dark pathways, and lighting and cameras in parking lots

· Increases in prospect, and decreases in concealment and boundedness may enhance feeling of safety and

Reference:

Nasar, J., & Fisher, B. (1993). ‘Hot spots’ of fear and crime: A multi-method investigation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 65, 187-206.

https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0272494405801732/1-s2.0-S0272494405801732-main.pdf?_tid=89e1d1f4-b02a-11e7-a37c-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1507908420_ba01739ca9159792ebea45fd94b51f45

Crime prevention through environmental design and retail robberies

Aims and method:

The aim of this research is to determine the effectiveness of the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) approach in reducing robberies. In 28 studies of post CPTED effectiveness, the percentage change in pre- and post-intervention crime was examined.

Key findings:

· All primary multiple-component CPTED programmes experienced a percentage change in robberies ranging from −84% to −30%.

· Single-component programme effects ranged from −83% to -2.4 (with one outlier at +91%)

· The broad nature of the CPTED approach allows its adaptation to any setting, and results indicate that it is an effective approach to reducing robbery

Reference:

Casteel, C., & Peek-Asa, C. (2000). Effectiveness of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) in reducing robberies. American journal of preventive medicine, 18(4), 99-115.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00146-X

Crime prevention through design and social activity

Aims and method:

Examines the effects of changes in neighbourhood environment due to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) strategies on residents’ social activities and sense of community utilising a case study of the Cheonan Safe Village Project in Korea. The study conducted an observational survey and questionnaire survey in order to collect data, and a total of 314 residents’ social activities were observed and 502 surveys were analysed.

Key findings:

· Social activities increased by 30.5% immediately after project completion, and by 90.4% one year after completing the project.

· Greetings and conversations between neighbours and children’s play activities showed a sustained increase around the areas where the physical environment changed

· Reduction in neighbourhood disorder and fear of crime and increased participation in neighbourhood activities were significantly correlated with a stronger sense of community amongst residents.

Reference:

Seo, S.Y. & Lee, K.H. (2017). Effects of changes in neighbourhood environment due to the CPTED project on residents’ social activities and sense of community: a case study on the Cheonan Safe Village Project in Korea. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 21 (3), 326-343

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/12265934.2017.1298462

Improved street lighting, crime and displacement

Aims and method:

Assesses the effect of improved street lighting on crime. In Dudley and Stoke (UK), victimisation surveys were carried out before and after improved lighting in experimental and control areas.

Key findings:

· In both cities, the prevalence and incidence of crime decreased after the improved lighting in the experimental area compared with the control area.

· There was also a decrease in crime in the adjacent area in Stoke, suggesting diffusion of benefits from the experimental area.

· Cost-benefit analyses showed that the tangible savings from crimes that had been prevented more than paid off the full capital costs of the improved lighting within one year.

Reference:

Painter, K., & Farrington, D. P. (1999). Improved street lighting: crime reducing effects and cost-benefit analyses. Security Journal, 12(4), 17-32.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/palgrave.sj.8340037

Improved street lighting and crime prevention

Aims and method:

A systematic meta-analysis of the effects of improved outdoor lighting. Studies were included in this systematic review if improved lighting was the main intervention, if there was an outcome measure of crime, if there was at least one experimental area and one comparable control area, if there were before and after measures of crime, and if the total number of crimes in each area before the intervention was at least 20. Thirteen studies from the US and UK met the inclusion criteria.

Key findings:

· Results were mixed for the eight American evaluation studies. Four studies found that improved street lighting was effective in reducing crime, while the other four found no effect.

· Five more recent British studies showed that improved lighting led to a significant 29% decrease in crime in experimental areas compared with comparable control areas.

· Taken together, the 13 studies revealed a significant 21% decrease in crime in experimental areas compared with comparable control areas.

· Better street lighting leads to an increase in perceived public safety and is associated with greater use of public space and neighbourhood streets by law-abiding citizens.

Reference:

Farrington, D. P., & Welsh, B. C. (2007). Improved street lighting and crime prevention: A systematic review. Stockholm, Sweden: National Council for Crime Prevention.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/abstractdb/AbstractDBDetails.aspx?id=247789

Fear of crime in urban parks

Aims and method:

Conducted to determine the attributes which evoke fear of crime and defensive behaviours within urban park users. Based on qualitative studies undertaken in the city of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) among park and non-park users by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews. The interviews covered respondents with various age, gender and race profiles.

Key findings:

· Reflected universal similarities between cultures with regard to a fear of crime in urban green spaces

· Seven attributes were revealed which evoked fear among residents: concealment (vegetation), being alone, signs of physical disorder, presence of social incivilities, familiarity, prior information about crime, and previous crime experience.

· The study also uncovered the presence of defensive behaviours towards crime in urban parks, particularly among the women.

Reference:

Maruthaveeran, S. & Konijnendijk van den Bosh, C. (2015). Fear of crime in urban parks – What the residents of Kuala Lumpur have to say?. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 14, 702-713.

https://ac.els-cdn.com/S1618866715000904/1-s2.0-S1618866715000904-main.pdf?_tid=50741f84-b030-11e7-ba0d-00000aacb361&acdnat=1507910901_1eca647395c437685ef23b419365f222

Residents’ fear in new suburban housing developments

Aims and method:

Explores the relationship between neighbourhood design and residents’ fear of crime in new suburban housing developments. A neighbourhood form index based on the planning and 

land-use characteristics that draw people into public space, facilitate pedestrian movement and ensure the presence of ‘territorial guardians’ was developed for each participant (n=1059) from objective environmental data. Self-report and objective data were collected from participants.

Key findings:

· With each additional index attribute, the odds of being fearful reduced (trend test pvalue=0.001), and this persisted even after progressive adjustment for demographics, victimisation, collective efficacy and perceived problems.

· The findings lend support to the notion that a more walkable neighbourhood is also a place where residents feel safer.

Reference:

Foster, S., Giles-Corti, B., & Knuiman, M. (2010). Neighbourhood design and fear of crime: a social-ecological examination of the correlates of residents’ fear in new suburban housing developments. Health & place, 16(6), 1156-1165.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829210001097

Desired security in social housing

Aims and method:

Explores desired value in social housing in the city of Campinas, Brazil. End-users of four multi-family social housing projects were asked to identify aspects of housing design, which are most valued. The research method utilised the stated preferences of approximately 200 respondents. Data was statistically analysed and a general importance index was created for each of the value attributes.

Key findings:

· Residents of typical social housing projects value their security most, followed by access to nature, reduction in utility bills and acoustic privacy.

· Based on previous post occupancy evaluation studies the question of security refers to issues of security in the surrounding urban context, rather than in the home.

Reference:

Kowaltowski, D. C., & Granja, A. D. (2011). The concept of desired value as a stimulus for change in social housing in Brazil. Habitat international, 35(3), 435-446.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197397510000858

Inter-visibility in the built environment and snatch crime

Aims and method:

The study focused on environmental situations of temporal and spatial influence on snatch thefts that occurred over a six-year period in a city in Taiwan. Space Syntax methods were adapted to produce an effective pedestrian predicting model to tease out the projected number of potential victims on each street segment.

Key findings:

• Areas near intersections in boundary less busy segments of commercial main streets, entry segments of both commercial secondary streets and residential main streets with higher pedestrian flows are particularly vulnerable to snatch crime during night 

• These vulnerable areas perform worse when they exhibit a lack of inter-visibility. 

• Snatch crime tends to occur in areas with poor inter-visibility and in between those two extremes of pedestrian flow from medium low busy commercial streets to residential entry streets where there are higher numbers of targets with little overlooking in the area.

Reference:

Chih-Feng Shu S. & Huang ND. (2018). Vulnerability of Snatch Thefts and Environmental Situations - Case Studies on a City in Taiwan. Architecture Science. 17: 31-58

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330994964_Vulnerability_of_Snatch_Thefts_and_Environmental_Situations-Case_Studies_on_a_City_in_Taiwan

Burglars’ Take on Crime Prevention through Environmental Design

Aims and method:

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) represents a multi-faceted approach to crime reduction that draws upon theories from urban design, psychology and criminology. Conscious that these principles have primarily been defined by academics and policy-makers, this research aims to rectify this imbalance. A sample of twenty-two incarcerated prolific burglars from three prisons (England), were asked to describe their response to sixteen images of residential housing. . 

Key findings:

• The design of residential housing influences burglar decision making. 

• Principles of CPTED should be re-examined, with surveillance, and physical security a clear deterrent

• Management and maintenance and defensible space seem to be less important in offender decision making. 

Reference:

Armitage, R. (2018) Burglars’ Take on Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. Security Journal. Security Journal,31(1),285-304

Armitage, R. and Monchuk, L. (2018) What is CPTED? Reconnecting Theory with Application in the Words of Users and abusers. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice

https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/publications/burglars-take-on-crime-prevention-through-environmental-design-cp 

https://academic.oup.com/policing/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/police/pax004/3067250?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Street environment and crime

Aims and method:

This paper reviewed literature on crime prevention through street environmental design on three spatial levels – street networks, paths, and nodes.

Key findings:

·      Many street environmental factors influence criminal behaviour, which can be divided into three levels: street networks, paths, and nodes. 

·      Street networks studies focus on geometric (e.g., density, length, environment) and topological (e.g., permeability, accessibility, connectivity) characteristics, with geometric factors showing clearer crime impacts, while topological findings remain inconsistent due to complex spatial interactions.

·      Crime occurrence is influenced by street activity levels, visibility, and lighting – moderate flow, transparent interfaces, and good lighting enhance natural surveillance and reduce crime risk.

·      Land use and layout affect crime; high-traffic facilities can attract crime, while well-planned and mixed-use layouts lower it – though ‘reasonable’ levels and specific impacts vary by urban context and conditions.

Reference:

Mao, Y., Yin, L., Zeng, M., Ding, J., & Song, Y. (2021). Review of Empirical Studies on Relationship between Street Environment and Crime. Journal of Planning Literature, 36(2), 187–202.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412221992280

Urban geographical environments and street crimes

Aims and method:

The study characterised urban environments with the help of a deep learning model and street view images. By combining built environment variables with socioeconomic variables, it constructed a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model to quantify both single-factor effects and the interaction effects among pairwise variables on street crime instances in space.

Key findings:

·      Improving visibility, clarifying pathways, planting vegetation, and adapting interventions locally can create safer urban environments through both environmental design and optimised policing.

·      The discovered interaction effects and seasonal variations in regression relationships yield the most comprehensive and reasonable explanations for the spatial distributions of street crime instances.

Reference:

Luo, L., Deng, M., Shi, Y., Gao, S., & Liu, B. (2022). Associating street crime incidences with geographical environment in space using a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model. Cities, 129, Article 103834. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103834

Built environment characteristics and spatial patterns of crime

Aims and method:

The study simultaneously examined the effects of three different characteristics of the built environment based on the theoretical conceptualisations of density, diversity, and design (3D), utilising data from 211,155 street segments in the Southern California metropolitan region across 130 cities.

Key findings:

·      Higher levels of business density are consistently associated with higher levels of crime.

·      The diversity is associated with moderately higher levels of crime.

·      The design measure consistently exhibited a crime-reducing effect.

Reference:

Kim, Y.-A., & Hipp, J. R. (2021). Density, diversity, and design: Three measures of the built environment and the spatial patterns of crime in street segments. Journal of Criminal Justice, 77, Article 101864. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2021.101864

Streetscape, presence of people, and occurrence of street theft

Aims and method:

The study applied an integrative deep learning algorithm combining an object detection network and a semantic segmentation network to extract on-street people and physical environment elements from fine-grained street view images (SVIs) in a large Chinese city. The extracted elements include fences, walls, windows, grass, sidewalk, and plants. A discrete spatial choice model was constructed to investigate the influence of people on the street and the streetscape's physical environments on the location choice of street theft crime offenders.

Key findings:

·      The streetscape context is critical to where offenders choose to commit crimes.

·      Offenders have a preference for higher numbers of people on streets.

·      Fences and high plants attract criminals while low grasses and clear sight lines negatively affect offenders' locational choices. 

·      The percentage of window to wall did not significantly affect criminals' crime location choices. 

Reference:

Yue, H., Liu, L., & Xiao, L. (2023). Investigating the effect of people on the street and streetscape physical environment on the location choice of street theft crime offenders using street view images and a discrete spatial choice model. Applied Geography (Sevenoaks), 157, Article 103025. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.103025

Street environment and crime

Aims and method:

This study adopts a strategy that first scrapes images from Google Street View every 20 meters in every street segment in the city of Santa Ana, CA, and then uses machine learning to detect features of the environment. Eleven different features across four main dimensions were captured, and demonstrate that their relative presence across street segments considerably increases the explanatory power of models of crimes.

Key findings:

·      The presence of more persons in the environment is associated with higher levels of crime.

·      The auto-oriented measures – vehicles and pavement – were positively associated with crime rates.

·      The presence of walls has a slowing negative relationship with most crime types whereas fences did not.

·      Although terrain was positively associated with crime rates, vegetation exhibited an inverted-U relationship with aggravated assaults and motor vehicle thefts.

Reference:

Hipp, J. R., Lee, S., Ki, D., & Kim, J. H. (2022). Measuring the Built Environment with Google Street View and Machine Learning: Consequences for Crime on Street Segments. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 38(3), 537–565. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-021-09506-9