The Application of the Concept of Defensible Space for Secured Housing Environment

Abstract

Housing areas in Malaysia has always relied on the local authorities to take care of the neighbourhood, resulting in apathy in respect to the community's well being, safety and a rise in crime. Most housing developments have been designed to provide a secure home rather than a secured living environment. The provision of a large and undefined communal space, leads to a situation of "anonymity" and become "lost spaces" which allow criminals to "disguise" among the crowd. A viable solution in ensuring a secured housing environment is through the provision of "defensible" communal spaces that encourage community interaction and social cohesion. This paper will discuss the current problems concerning crime and safety in high-density housing settlement in Malaysia. The paper will also review the prevailing ideas and concepts that have been articulated by prominent theorists for the designer to use in designing secured housing development, This is where the defensible space theory raises the issue of 'creating' a community within a neighbourhood, and how it could be applied successfully to local housing.