CPTED glossary of terms
3-D concept
Popularised by Crowe (1991) the 3D approach is premised on three tenets:
Designation: all human space has some designated purpose
Definition: all human space has social, cultural, legal, or physical definitions that prescribe the desired and acceptable behaviours
Design: all human space is designed to support and control the desired behaviours
Access Control
Directed at decreasing criminal opportunity through denying access to the crime target and creating a perception if risk to offenders. Access control strategies are typically classified as organised (eg. Guards,), mechanical (eg. locks), and natural (eg. spatial definition)
Active frontages
Fronts of buildings that encourage natural surveillance (i.e. buildings that utilise use of windows to overlook public spaces)
Activity Node
Concentration of activity at a particular point
Activity Generation
To selectively increase activity in a space for residents and other legitimate users, by manipulating the space to encourage a particular activity that draws people to it, such as café or recreational and community facilities
Celebrated Entrance
An entrance to a private or public space that clearly defines its ownership
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
A system where images from a camera are relayed to a monitor or other device that records and stores images
Community Safety
Measures that aim to address perceptions about crime and/or risk of victimisation which negatively impact on people’s quality of life issues
Crime Prevention
The reduction, elimination or prevention of crime. Crime Prevention seeks to reduce the risks of criminal events and related misbehaviour by intervening in their causes
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
A process for improved planning and space management decisions that focus on the idea that the physical environment can be manipulated to produce behavioural effects that will reduce the incidence and fear of crime thereby improving the quality of life. These behavioural effects can be accomplished by reducing the propensity of the physical environment to support criminal behaviour
Defensible space
Coined by Newman (1973), the term refers to a model for residential environments that inhibits crime by creating the physical expression of a social fabric that defends itself. All the different elements which combine to make a defensible space have a common goal – an environment in which latent territoriality and sense of community in the inhabitants can be translated into responsibility for ensuring safe, productive, and well maintained living space
Displacement
The manipulation of variable which impact on crime an cause offenders to shift their attention to some other method, time or place; change their target,, or even switch to some other categories of crime. This needs to be considered when any preventative strategies are applied
Entrapment Spot
Entrapment sports are small confined areas adjacent to or near a well travelled route and shielded on three sides by a barrier e.g. recessed entrance, gap in tall shrubbery
Hotspot
A geographic concept; a place (or address) that has a high rate of reported crime
Landscape
The character or appearance of land, including its shape, form, natural features, colours and elements and the way these components may be combined
Landscaping
To increase the safety of a site by transforming the overall landscape, through the use of vegetarian (‘soft’ landscaping e.g. trees, shrubs, hedges, lawn and ground cover) and non vegetarian material (‘hard’ landscaping e.g. brick, concrete, stone, tile and timber in the form of seating, pathways etc)
Land Use Mix
To modify the range of land uses in a space in order to facilitate an appropriate mix of activities occurring in the environment at a variety of times during the day and night
Lighting
The adequate illumination of a space that enables people to see and be seen
Land Use Mix
To modify the range of land uses in a space in order to facilitate an appropriate mix of activities occurring in the environment at a variety of times during the day and night
Lighting
The adequate illumination of a space that enables people to see and be seen
Maintenance and Management
To promote the perception that a space is well maintained and cared for a owners and users of the space, in order to encourage others to treat the space with the same care and respect and make the space look and feel safer
Mechanical Strategies
Capital or hardware intensive security (eg. alarms, CCTV) provides access control and surveillance. These strategies may require additional support to complement the strategy (eg. staff watching CCTV monitors)
Movement Predictors
A predictable or unchangeable route or path that offers no choice to pedestrians eg. pedestrian tunnels/bridges, narrow passageways
Natural Strategies
Safety and security are provided through the design and layout of space, the location of windows etc. These strategies have low human and capital resource requirements. The use of natural strategies reflects a preference, where feasible, to reinforce existing or new activities,
Semi Public
A transitional area that extends from a private space to a public one. For example, from the edge of a building (private) to the sidewalk (public). Semi-public zones would include all the ‘civic spaces’ surrounding the public building, as well as the building façade, entrances and ground floor
Semi-Private
A transitional area that extends from a public space to a private one
Sightlines
To provide ‘ visual permeability’: that is, maximum visibility of the immediate and approaching surroundings for users of a space, by creating an unimpeded view across relevant aspects of space, particularly public pedestrian pathways
Signage
To enable the environment to convey a sense of place and provide orientation and direction, including an indication of safe places and routes
Site Assessment
A process that involves appraising a pre-determined space in the physical environment using CPTED concepts and principles, to provide information towards influencing the planning, design, development, maintenance and management decisions of that space, for the purpose of reducing the propensity of that environment to support criminal behaviour or foster fear of crime
Situational Crime Prevention
Situational rime prevention sets out to demotivate potential offenders by making targets less suitable, assuming that a level of rational choice and planning on the part of the offenders is present
Social Crime Prevention
Crime prevention practice associated with a range of social conditions, which are believed to sustain crime in society. Emphasis is usually upon housing, employment, education, family, youth and health related policies
Space Hierarchy
Change of space from public to semi-public to semi-private to private space. For example, the sidewalk is public, a front lawn is semi-private and the doorstop is private
Spatial Layout
The organisation and designation of space
Streetscape
All the elements that make up the physical environment of a street and define its character. This includes trees, building type, style etc
Surveillance
Directed at keeping intruders under observation through providing opportunities to facilitate observation, such that offenders may feel themselves to be at an increased risk of detection by the legitimate users of the space
Target hardening
The use of physical barriers (eg. locks, safes, screens or reinforced material) to obstruct an offender and reduce criminal opportunities
Territorial reinforcement
Physical design can create or extend a sphere of influence so that users of the space develop a sense of proprietorship – territorial influence and potential offenders perceive that territorial influence
Visual Permeability
To provide maximum visibility of the immediate and approaching surroundings for users of a space
