TWO North East students are to travel to the Caribbean to talk on how environmental design can help to cut crime.
PhD student Victoria Gibson and postgraduate researcher Megan McCabe from Northumbria University will be speaking at an event organised by the Caribbean Network for Urban and Land Management in Trinidad and Tobago next month.
Both are carrying out research into Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED).
Victoria, from Wideopen in North Tyneside, said: “CPTED reduces crime opportunities through effective planning and design.
“It produces a built environment that allows residents to gain control over the place in which they live and encourages a good relationship between authorities and other community members to work together to discourage crime. “
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design aims to encourage residents to keep a closer watch on their areas through providing features like large windows, buildings looking out over communal areas, low hedges and fences, good lighting and outdoor seating at locations like shops, cafes, pubs, and restaurants.
Another aim is to create an attractive and well-maintained environment to encourage communities to use and look after public space. This is known to discourage crime and reduce fear of crime.
Another technique is to use landscape design to mark out what is public and what is private space.
Megan, who lives in Consett in County Durham, said: “There is a high crime rate in the Caribbean but there is also a lot of urban regeneration going on and a desire to deal with crime issues so we hope to be able to demonstrate how to use the framework to encourage a more holistic approach to planning to deter crime.
“There’s real potential for our research to have a direct impact on their planning process.”
Both students are being sponsored in their postgraduate studies by Concept Building Services (Southern) Ltd whose support has enabled them to attend the conference.
There’s real potential for our research to have a direct impact on their planning process
