SafeScape: Creating Safer, More Livable Communities Through Planning and Design

The built environment has a tremendous impact on public safety. Zelinka and Brennan's SafeScape principles challenge planners and citizens alike to create vibrant, integrated, self-policing, and sustainable communities. The co-authors examine aspects of the urban environment that influence crime and the fear of crime and recommend strategies for building-or rebuilding-communities where residents feel safe and are safe. SafeScape communities empower citizens and offer many and varied opportunities for positive action. Their inherently safer design makes them easier and less costly to keep safe. Zelinka and Brennan focus on planning and design solutions that minimize opportunities for criminal and victim to come together. Throughout, they stress that these efforts will succeed only if they engage citizens, embrace diversity, and enhance a sense of community. Personal observations, case studies, and hundreds of photographs from communities across America make Safescape an interesting, practical, and inspiring guide to safer, livelier, and more inviting communities. This is compelling reading for planners, designers, public safety professionals, and elected officials. From the authors: Who should read Safescape ? We have written Safescape to appeal to a broad audience because crime and fear of crime are issues that most of us deal with on a daily basis. Whether you are a citizen, a planner, an architect, a landscape architect, a developer, an educator, or a law enforcement professional, you are most likely confronted with these issues. We examined the information needs of a variety of groups, and it became clear that a gap exists in the knowledge being disseminated and the concepts being advocated. This book clearly conveys how the physical environment can effectively be made safer-and how a sense of community can be strengthened-by addressing the varying conditions that can create public safety issues. The intent of this book is to stimulate thought and creativity while keeping public safety in mind when designing places. To meet this need, a visual format is utilized for the major portion of this book. This format is based on the need to convey information and ideas that professionals and nonprofessionals alike can understand and use to respond to a variety of planning and design-related safety issues.