ABSTRACT
Parking facilities, by their very nature, are challenging to make into secure environments. They are a land use with a single purpose, and they do not easily allow for mixed uses that might encourage territoriality. They contain large high-rise garage walls, structural columns, and multi-levels, which create poor visibility and make them vulnerable to crime. Subsurface or underground parking facilities are often part of a building’s foundation, have little to no outside exposure for visibility, and can be an easy target for terrorism (World Trade Center, 1993; Madrid airport parking lot, 2006). It is difcult to control access to large open parking lots, and they make an inviting environment for car thieves, purse snatching, and car burglary. Parking structures, whether they are surface lots, above or below ground, are perceived as dark, isolated, and dangerous environments.
