Defensible Space: Deterring Crime and Building Community

by Henry Cisneros, Robert F. Berg (Editor), David S. Green (Editor)

Report by Henry G. Cisneros, Secretary of Housing & Urban Development at the time it was written, on the increasing recognition that physical design of neighborhoods has a role to play in crime reduction. These design approaches, known collectively as defensible space, rely on a bundle of relatively inexpensive techniques that define spaces in a manner that discourages criminal activity, for both individual buildings & whole neighborhoods. Discussions applications of defensible space principles in public housing; street patterns & broken windows; defensible space at the neighborhood scale; & exploring the potential for urban neighborhoods & public housing.

86 pages, Plastic Comb

First published June 1, 1995