Reglamentos

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and Research

Creating Defensible Space

Creating Defensible Space
by Oscar Newman Institute for Community Design Analysis

Contractor: Center for Urban Policy Research Rutgers University Contract No. DU100C000005967 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and ResearchApril 1996

The opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

FOREWORD

The appearance of Oscar Newman’s Defensible Space in 1972 signaled the establishment of a new criminological subdiscipline that has come to be called by many “Crime Prevention Through Envi­ ronmental Design”or CPTED. Over the years, Mr. Newman’s ideas have proven to have such signifi­ cant merit in helping the Nation’s citizens reclaim their urban neighborhoods that we at HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research asked him to prepare a casebook to assist public and pri­ vate organizations with the implementation of Defensible Space theory. Information about this pro­ cess is presented forthree distinct venues: in an older, small, private urban community; in an existing public housing community; and in the context of dispersing public housing throughout a small city. This monograph is very special because it draws directly from Mr. Newman’s experience as a con­ sulting architect. Indeed, we asked the author to share with us both his perspective on creating viable change and hispersonal observations on key lessons learned. By publishing Creating Defensible Space, PD&R is pleased to be part of the continuing growth and evolution of Defensible Space as both a criminological concept and a proven strategy for enhancing our Nation’s quality of urban life.

Michael A. Stegman Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research

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CONTENTS

■ ILLUSTRATIONS..................................................................... ix
■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................ xiii
■ INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1

What this book is about and who it is for .......................................................................................... 4
Rationalefor selecting the three case studies..................................................................................... 4
Case Study One: The Five Oaks community in Dayton, Ohio .......................................................... 5
Case Study Two: The Clason Point project, South Bronx, New York City ....................................... 5
Case Study Three: Dispersing publichousing in Yonkers, New York ............................................... 6
Presentation format............................................................................................................................. 7

■ Chapter I: Defensible Space Principles ........................................ 9

The concept........................................................................................................................................ 9
Evolution of the concept..................................................................................................................... 9
The private streets of St. Louis......................................................................................................... 13
The effect of housing form onresidents’ ability to control areas .................................................... 14
Summary of the effect of building type on behavior ....................................................................... 17
The effect of building type on residents’ control of streets.............................................................. 18
Social factors and their interaction with the physical...