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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

Student’s Name

Institution

Course

Date
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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) refers to a collection of

design concepts used to deter crime and increase the security of buildings. This strategy is based

on the basic principle that since properties and buildings may be constructed to minimize their

risks of being damaged from weather and other natural calamities, they can as well be designed

to deter criminals from accessing these properties (Cozens et al., 2005).

The ideas of CPTED are founded on predicting how criminals think and establishing an

atmosphere that discourages these criminals from proceeding with their criminal intentions.

Consequently, these design concepts have the extra benefit of providing tenants and employees

with a sense of well-being and security (Cozens et al., 2005). When CPTED is implemented, the

surrounding environment, including the building in reference and its environs, will impede or

discourage criminal activities while encouraging honest residents to maintain a vigilant eye. The

benefits of this design concept are maximized when implemented at the earliest stage possible of

the design process before critical design decisions are made (Minnery & Lim, 2005). However,

CPTED should not be used as the sole method of preventing crime but should instead be used in

concert with other social, community-based, and environmental methods.

CPTED has four main principles: maintenance, natural surveillance, natural access

control, and territorial reinforcements (Minnery & Lim, 2005). Examples of environmental

design strategies include providing clearly defined transitional zones indicating the transition

from public to private areas, designing the space to enhance natural surveillance, keeping

valuables out of sight to reduce a criminal's perceived value of breaking into the building, and

locking all entrances to prevent unauthorized entry into the building.

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References

Cozens, P. M., Saville, G., & Hillier, D. (2005). Crime prevention through environmental design

(CPTED): a review and modern bibliography. Property management.

Minnery, J. R., & Lim, B. (2005). Measuring crime prevention through environmental

design. Journal of architectural and planning research, 330-341.