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Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Edward Leigh (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 9 February 2015 on behalf of the Home Office.

Crime Prevention (Urban Design)

Question

We do not need research to tell us that—it is common sense. Without sounding too much like that most estimable man the Prince of Wales, may I urge the Home Office to do more to encourage new urbanist principles in urban design that are developing on the continent: walkability; high density, as in European cities and as opposed to urban sprawl; and modernist projects? All these ideas of involving the community in their community can only help to defeat crime.

Answer

I thank my hon. Friend, who is almost indistinguishable from the Prince of Wales. We have no current plans to conduct research on the impact of modern architecture and design on crime and antisocial behaviour, but we keep an open mind on all ideas. A Home Office-funded project published in 2010 looked at the crime experience of six contemporary housing schemes and its findings led to the development of valuable design principles on creating safe places to live

for use by the police, architects and others. Anyone using their common sense when commissioning and designing a building would, obviously, wish to design out crime.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
592 c546 
Session
2014-15
Oral question type
1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Crime prevention Architecture Research Urban areas
Link
View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk