Revisiting the CPTED Continuum: does environment affect our behavior?

The concept of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) ) had been debated since the 70’s.  Experiments  with using design to fight crime can be found all around the world.  A recent article about the cooperation between developers and the police department in the Anacostia River front in the DC area is just one of the latest examples.

All for one, and one for all

Theories abound, and I don’t claim any level of expertise,  but there were a few concepts which seemed of particular interest.   CPTED is not about crime prevention, but about reducing the opportunity for  those with criminal inclination. Also, the reduction of crime is not displaced and relocated elsewhere.  In other words, what’s going on here is removing the temptation for people who haven’t necessarily set out to commit a crime, but would fall prey given the chance.   It recognizes that much crime is committed by residents and other legitimate user of the space.

Some of the recommendations are to clean up the property, make sure there are good sight lines from the house to neighbors and the street, spot lights with motion sensors. But the key recommendation is Community policing.  Yup.  Turn the bad cop to a good cop.  And while we’re at it , re-instate the nosy neighbor brigade.    It works on so many levels.  People caring for people.

replacing graffiti with a mural

If I think about this as a continuum, with crime being the bad, and a neighborhood watch coming toward the center, with good protecting against bad, can we continue this concept up the continuum.  Is there a mirrored positive?   So can environment start supporting good behavior?   If negative opportunities can trigger a negative crime reaction in human beings,   can positive opportunities trigger good Samaritan behavior?   

pitching in for some grape stomping

If this is the case, maybe there is another field of design which could be developed.  Instead of crime prevention, it would be a design specialty in creating community opportunities,  humanitarian behavior, random acts of kindness… funny how there isn’t even an antonym for crime…    This might be the use of a space, for a pocket park, for an alley garden.  It might be getting a community project to paint a mural on a wall which has had graffiti problems,  it might be sprucing up the curb and gutter, and putting in bike racks.  I’d have to give this some more thought – but it would be great to come up with a word/ name to express this idea.