Crime Prevention through Environmental Design: overview of history and future outlook

Paul Cozens & Terrence Love, "A Review and Current Status of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED)," Journal of Planning Literature 30 (2015): 4

The take-away: This article traces the history of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED), highlighting how the field transformed from its “first-generation” to “second-generation” in response to accusations of determinism. While this involved CPTED advocates acknowledging the important role of social and economic factors in CPTED outcomes, “the effectiveness of second-generation CPTED has not been empirically well tested” (405). Future directions for CPTED are proposed.

Abstract: This article reviews the current status of the concept of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). It provides an overview of its history and origins and defines how it is commonly understood and conceptualized. Globally, CPTED is an increasingly popular crime prevention strategy supported by governments all over Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as in Asia and South Africa. This review inspects some of the evidence associated with CPTED and provides a detailed overview of the main criticisms facing this field.

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