As our cities continue to grow, safety and wellbeing of the public becomes increasingly important for people to fully participate in urban life.
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a specialism of design which focuses on creating safe places through evidence-based guidelines. Through the use of thoughtful design interventions such as placement of pathways, lights and street furniture for example, we can create safer neighbourhoods and precincts.
The core principles of CPTED revolve around supervision, access management, territorial reinforcement, and quality environments. These principles aim to increase activation of the public realm, control access to some spaces, foster community ownership and achieve well-designed places that are maintained over the long-term. CPTED also supports the social framework needed for self-policing, by contributing to an attractive environment in which people will want to gather.
Our skilled practitioners have a deep understanding of what the CPTED principles mean, and how and when they can be applied through the design process. Our strong design experience enables us to create integrated design-led solutions that deliver multiple co-benefits and support functional and high quality built environments for people, with enduring value for future generations.
Any project that serves the public will benefit from CPTED advice. We have extensive experience working in privately managed environments and in civic or public realm projects. The sectors we work in include: transport infrastructure, community facilities (such as swimming pools, civic offices and libraries), medical and education campuses, the public realm and places of worship.
How we can help:
- Facilitation of engagement with communities.
- Development of CPTED strategies, policies, and guidelines.
- Audits and analysis.
- Review of lighting designs from a safety perspective.
- Embedding CPTED into design processes to achieve creative design solutions.
- Working in multi-disciplinary teams to advise on CPTED issues.
Current and emerging trends
The scope and role of CPTED has broadened in response to the current and evolving challenges society faces in keeping people and property safe. These include consideration of risks such as hostile vehicles, ram raids and terrorism; and management of crowded places. These risks to safety can have significant cost implications for businesses. Identifying key issues early in the design process can avoid costly retrofits or legacy issues that result in long-term maintenance or management. By drawing on their extensive design background, our CPTED practitioners can act as a ‘fresh set of eyes’ by addressing the following potential issues in public-facing projects:
- Issues associated with crowded places.
- Hostile vehicle threats.
- Terrorism and ram raids.
- Understanding and responding to new safety related mandates within organisations.
- Championing a greater focus on protecting both people and property.
- Managing the challenges associated with licensed premises and the design surrounding these places.
- Promoting liveable and cohesive communities.
- Promoting inclusive environments.
As CPTED guidance has evolved, our team takes a responsive and holistic approach that incorporates the social dimensions of safety. This includes consideration of inclusive design (cultural, ethnicity, gender, and disabilities) and fostering people’s general wellness. A key part of this is understanding who the community is, and the barriers they face in feeling safe and well. We work with communities to understand their needs through engagement, community workshops and targeted interviews.
