SAFER DESIGN PRINCIPLES Peter Boyle Principal Urban Designer

1. SAFER DESIGN PRINCIPLES Peter Boyle Principal Urban Designer

2. The Costs of Crime • The cost of crime to the Victorian community in 2009-2010 is estimated to be just over $9.8 billion. • This amount is equivalent to $1678 per person in Victoria in 2009-2010. • This amount is equivalent to 3.4% of Gross State Product in Victoria in 2009-2010. http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/eco/research/papers/2011/2511costsofcrimesmyth.pdf

3. The Costs of Crime http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/eco/research/papers/2011/2511costsofcrimesmyth.pdf

4. “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us” Winston Churchill • The built environment has an impact on crime patterns, and hence, sustainability • Mistakes made in planning and design are “built in” and not easily changed • Sustainable communities are less likely to fail

5. Perceived danger in public space • A German university campus setting. • Factors measured: • Physical environment • Psychological factors • Biological sex • Previous experiences • Variables: • Opportunities for escape / entrapment • Opportunities for concealment • Lighting levels Blobaum & Huneke, Perceived Danger in Urban Public Space Environment and Behaviour Research, Jan 2005

6. Perceived danger in public space: • The impacts of physical features and personal factors • Findings: • Anticipated entrapment is strongest predictor of perception of danger • Biological sex is next strongest predictor; followed by concealment and lighting • What works with what? • Where low entrapment potential, then increasing lighting important • Where high entrapment potential exists, then reducingconcealment is important (increasing lighting is not effective here) Blobaum & Huneke, 2005

7. Opposing Urban Paradigms Enclosure model Oscar Newman: Defensible Space • Strangers as a source of danger • Closed and impermeable environments • A patchwork of inward looking ‘defensible’ enclaves

8. Opposing Urban Paradigms Encounter model Jane Jacobs: Death and Life of Great American Cities • Strangers as a source of safety- “eyes on the street” • Open and permeable environments • A continuous network of ‘doubly constituted’ streets

10. Enclosure Model • Enclosure Model provides: • Internal security • A series of separate enclaves • But what happens outside or in between these? • And what about capacity for change?

11. Enclosure Model Attempted abduction of a woman walking along Sunshine Avenue, Keilor Downs The Age 08/01/2004, p.3 Case Study: Sunshine Ave., Keilor Downs

12. Safety and Surveillance Police Station Case Study: Sunshine Ave., Keilor Downs

13. Safe........but for whom?

14. Encounter Model Encounter Model provides: • Permeable street network connecting neighbourhoods • Convenient access for different transport modes • Clear distinction between public and private realms • Ability to see and be seen

15. Neighbourhood Conditions and the Built Environment High Level of physical and social disorder Low High Built environment opportunities for crime Paulsen, D, (2013). Crime and Planning, Building Socially Sustainable Communities, p.17

16. Maximise connections between neighbourhoods ‘Walkable neighbourhoods’ and active neighbourhood centres - social integration Legible network of streets Diverse and active neighbourhoods Maximise visibility & surveillance of public space - make places feel safe Safer Neighbourhood Design

17. Neighbourhood Design • Neighbourhood designs based on a hierarchical street network contributes to: • Induced private vehicle traffic • Compromised access and amenity for other transport modes incl walking and cycling • a reduction of streets that link neighbourhoods from ‘centre to edge • An urban structure with limited adaptability

18. Street Design • Direct, comfortable street networks provide people with a choice of safe routes to destinations • Increases actual pedestrian safety and perceptions of safety

19. Street Design: Culs–de-sac

20. Street Design: Culs–de-sac • Limit the number of culs de sac in any development • Culs de sac should be no longer than 75 metres • Straight...to maximise visibility from adjoining streets • Avoid “leaky” ends

21. Risky Parks Size: The park is large and attracts many users, some of whom become victims. Suitable targets: The park contains a lot of things particularly vulnerable to theft or vandalism. Location: The park is close to an area with a high crime rate. Repeat victims: The park attracts a few victims involved in a large proportion of crimes. Crime attractor: The park attracts many offenders or a few high-rate offenders. Poor design: The park's physical layout makes offending easy, rewarding, or risk-free. Poor management: Management practices or processes enable or encourage offending. http://www.popcenter.org/Responses/urban_parks/print/

22. Problems with Parks • Narrow, unobserved footpaths hemmedin between high solid fences and dense planting • Dense tree and shrub planting that obscures the view of open spaces from adjacent houses • Footpaths that converge in hidden spaces, leaving no option to avoid the secluded areas • Secluded areas that encourage misuse, posing threats to pedestrians using footpaths and adjoining property • Children's play areas hidden from view • Footpath alignments and dense planting that obstructsight lines along routes to the exit • Houses whose backs face the park and don't allow useful surveillance of the area • Pedestrian routes that include unobserved areas blocked by high fences City of Nottingham: Design Guide for Community Safety in Residential Areas

23. What’s a good park? • Parents take children there • Females go there as often as males • Elderly people regularly visit the park • Workers have lunch or take breaks there

24. Parks and Open Space • Back fences facing open space • No direct connection or integration with surrounding neighbourhood • Low level natural surveillance

25. 400m Retrofitting parks for safety East Reservoir

26. Retrofitting parks for safety

27. 5 Principles for Safer Design 1. Surveillance Maximise surveillance of the public environment 2. Access, Movement and Sightlines Provide safe movement, good connections and access 3. Activity Maximise activity in public places 4. Ownership Clearly define private and public space responsibilities 5. Management and Maintenance Manage public space to ensure that it is attractive and well used

28. Questions?