The Missing Link in CPTED Theory

Abstract

Crime prevention through environmental design is among the most resilient theories of the modern era, primarily because it works so well in practice. It reduces the physical opportunity for crime through architecture and urban planning. In its earliest years, CPTED theory shifted immediately toward a target hardening orientation and away from its social ecology roots. That gave rise to, or accompanied, a host of other opportunity-based approaches that now represent a new movement in criminological theory. But in spite of this theoretical bifurcation, the original strains of social ecology and the neighborhood-building visions of the CPTED pioneers persisted. The latest expansion of CPTED theory emerged in 1997 in the form of 2nd Generation CPTED, which rediscovers social ecology and creates a more balanced approach to neighborhood crime prevention. Today it is implemented in a new urban planning and prevention method called SafeGrowth.