ARTICLE REVIEW 1
Crime PreventionThrough Environment Design
ResearchFocus
The purposeof the study undertaken by Marselle, et al., (2012) wasto devise an environmental design to combat violence against personsin Manchester’s Gay Village. The approach used to conduct theresearch was the case study methodology. Evidence was collectedthrough 19 semi-structured interviews in which the participants wereasked to comment on how the area’s design played a role inencouraging delinquent acts. Also, the researchers utilized thepolice crime data recorded for the period between August 2006 andJuly 2007. Observation entailed watching villagers as they used theBloom and Sackville streets in addition to a walk-around in thevillage to get first hard experience. The researchers’ hypothesesthat design influence crime rate and fear of crime were confirmed.
A briefsummarization of the research study`s key findings
The researchers found that 93% of the crime occurred at night, 63%during the weekend nights, 54% took part on the streets, and 39%around or in premises. Besides, the researchers found some patternsin the villagers’ uses of the streets. First, traffic was mostlyheavy during the weekend and was mainly facilitated by the many barsand clubs in the streets. The huge traffic was due to the absence ofa place to sit hence, some people stood on the pavement. Thesituation was worsened by the many people outsides the bars and clubssmoking, adding to the already large crowd waiting to enter. Futureresearch is needed to determine the influence of the design on areaswithout heavy traffic.
Research applications
The design can be applied in any area or place that is characterizedby disorganized movement of people and cars. The research findingssupport the aspects of natural surveillance which is grounded on theprinciples of increased legitimate space user and the ability ofpeople to see about and around themselves (Western AustralianPlanning Commission, 2006). When the researchers demobilized andorganized the streets providing designated space for public seatingand taxi picking, crime reduced drastically.
Reference
Marselle, M.,Wootton, A. B., & Hamilton, M. G. (2012). A design against crimeintervention to reduce violence in the night-time economy. SecurityJournal, 25(2),116-133.
Western Australian Planning Commission. (2006). “Design OutPlanning Guidelines.” Accessed on May 10, 2015.http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/dop_pub_pdf/docguidelines.pdf