ABSTRACT
Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is a crime prevention strategy that outlines how physical environments can be designed in order to lessen the opportunity for crime. This is achieved by creating environmental and social conditions that are: maximize risk to offenders, maximize the effort required to commit crime, minimize the actual and perceived benefits of crime, and minimize excuse-making opportunities. The CPTED guidelines consider design and use, identify which aspects of the physical environment affect the behavior of people, and then use these factors to allow for the most productive use of space while reducing the opportunity of crime. This might include changes to poor environmental design such as street lighting and landscaping. CPTED concepts and principles are ideally incorporated at the design stage of a development but can also be applied to existing developments and areas where crime and safety are a concern.
