Department of Architecture

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Creating Sustainable Safety in Urban Residential Neighbourhoods through Architectural Design
(Department of Architecture, Ahmadu Bello University, 2009-09-01) Iweka, A. C.; Adebayo, A. K.; Igwe, J. M.
Although the police and the criminal justice system are regarded as key contributors to the fight against crimes in urban residential neighbourhoods, recent thinking is that the complexity of the phenomena requires a wider approach. One of the newer approaches being propagated is sustainable urban neighbourhood safety through effective architectural planning and design. This approach argues that designers and developers should think of crime prevention as an integral part of the design processes that shape new developments. It has been projected that 10-15% of crimes have environmental design and management components. Increasingly it is being acknowledged that why, where and how crime and violence take place should be of interest to the process of architectural planning and design. This paper discusses how crime prevention considerations can be built into the processes that shape the physical structure and arrangement of group of buildings, landscapes, as well as other physical developments within urban residential neighbourhood spaces. The paper explores how design practices associated with different components of urban neighbourhood can facilitate or reduce the factors that contribute to crime or violence.