ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the contribution housing and vehicle design makes to reducing crime levels worldwide. Crime and security are highly emotive subjects, embracing beliefs about morality, politics and economics. In 1979, Cohen and Felson published an article in the American Sociological Review theorising that the crime boom was due to an increase in criminal opportunities offered by an increasingly consumerist society. The security hypothesis suggests that more and better security drove the crime drop, and this is supported by data from the UK, Australia and the United States. The level and type of crime experienced by a nation depend upon the opportunities offered by the particular contexts within it. While there may have been an overall fall in crime, some specific types of crimes are actually on the increase. One important research tool is the International Crime Victimisation Survey. Young women aged 18 to 24 were at the highest risk of mobile phone theft victimisation.
