Send article

An evidence based approach to crime and urban design. Or, can we have vitality, sustainability and security all at once?

Authors

  • Bill Hillier University College London
  • Ozlem Sahbaz University College London
  • Christian Beros Space Syntax
Vol. 23 No. 64 (2008): Residential Security
https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-8358.2008.61887

Abstract

The following research calls into question some of the most deeply held assumption that have been made on all sides about the relation between spatial design and security. The most important of these is perhaps the ‘safety in numbers’ argument that challenges long held beliefs that small is somehow beautiful in designing for well-working, low-risk communities. On the basis of the evidence we have presented we can argue that the benefi ts of a residential culture become more apparent with larger rather than smaller numbers. A no less challenging implication of this body of evidence is that the relation between crime and spatial design may not pass through the intervening variable of community formation. Again, the evidence suggests that the simple fact of human co-presence in space, coupled to simple physical features of buildings or spaces is enough to explain differences in victimization rates in different types of location and area, albeit with variations due to social factors. 1234

Author Biographies

Bill Hillier, University College London

MA?DSc. Professor of Architectural and Urban Morphology in the University of London, Chairman of the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies and Director of the Space Syntax Laboratory in University College London.

Ozlem Sahbaz, University College London

BSc MSc. Space Research Group, Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London.

Christian Beros, Space Syntax

BArch MSc AAS. Space Syntax Associate, Representative in Chile.

Downloads

Altmetrics
How to Cite
Hillier, B., Sahbaz, O., & Beros, C. (2009). An evidence based approach to crime and urban design. Or, can we have vitality, sustainability and security all at once?. Revista INVI, 23(64). https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-8358.2008.61887
ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX
 
Revista INVI
Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo
Universidad de Chile
DATOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN
Dirección de Servicios de Información y Bibliotecas (SISIB)