New Urbanism, Crime and the Suburbs: A Review of the Evidence

Abstract

Sustainability now influences government policy in the UK, Australia and USA and planning policy currently advocates high density, mixed-use residential developments in 'walkable', permeable neighbourhoods, close to public transport, employment and amenities. This clearly demonstrates the growing popularity, influence and application of New Urbanist ideas. This article reviews the criminological research relating to New Urbanism associated with the three key issues of permeability, rear laneway car parking and mixed-use development. These key issues are discussed from an environmental criminology perspective and challenge New Urbanist assumptions concerning crime. The article proposes that crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and its crime risk assessment model represents a valuable tool for New Urbanists to utilise to reduce opportunities for crime and tackle fear of crime in the community. Recommendations for future research and collaboration are discussed.

Urban Planning and Environmental Criminology: Towards a New Perspective for Safer Cities

“…Planning policy in the UK, USA and Australia (and particularly New Urbanism) is both ignoring Jacobs' warning and overlooking the criminological evidence (Cozens, 2008c). Her anthropological approach is explicitly cautious about generalizing from one place to another.…”

“…Although the criminological evidence suggests that permeability, mixed uses and high densities can potentially provide increased opportunities for crime, this does not imply that those involved should stop building such communities Paul Michael Cozens (Cozens, 2008c(Cozens, , 2011. Rather, it suggests that planners should know what tradeoffs they are making.…”

“…Indeed, Designing Out Crime and CPTED ideas are being applied in the UK (Cozens et al, 2004), in Australia (Cozens et al, 2008) and at a global level (Schneider & Kitchen, 2007;Cozens, 2008c).…”

“…Increasingly, place-based approaches such as CPTED (Crowe, 2000), also known as designing out crime, are being deployed by governments to reduce opportunities for crime within their cities and urban spaces (Schneider & Kitchen, 2007;Cozens, 2008c).…”

Permeability across a Metropolitan Area: Conceptualizing and Operationalizing a Macrolevel Crime Pattern Theory

“…In this vein, several studies compared cul-de-sacs-streets with one way in or out-with other street types (Armitage, 2007;Beavon et al, 1994;Bevis and Nutter, 1977;Block and Davis, 1996;Hakim et al, 2001;Johnson and Bowers, 2010;Mirrlees-Black et al, 1998;Rengert and Hakim, 1998). Although the research findings are diverse, and the mixed result pattern may arise partly from studies spanning rural versus urban versus suburban contexts (Cozens, 2008), moderate support for the enclosure position emerges from the work. For example, proximity to larger roads seems to increase crime risk (Cromwell et al, 1991).…”