Placemaking and Secured by Design

Mike Harvey, South Wales Police

Secured by Design is a police initiative to improve the security of buildings and their surroundings to create safe places to live, work, shop and visit.

Independent academic research has shown that Secured by Design can help housing developments experience up to 87% less burglary, 25% less vehicle crime and 25% less criminal damage. Secured by Design can also significantly reduce anti-social behaviour and result in substantial carbon cost savings.

Safety is an important aspect of placemaking. Feeling safe in our homes and communities is fundamental to creating successful places. A feeling of safety is needed to build a sense of community and enable people to walk and cycle, use public transport, meet and socialise, and for children to play in public spaces.

Placemaking involves working collaboratively across sectors and disciplines to comprehensively consider the future development of distinctive and vibrant places. Involving the police’s Designing out Crime Officers can help new developments incorporate Secured by Design guidance from the outset and create safe places with fewer opportunities for crime and anti-social behaviour.

Designing out Crime Officers are best involved early in the design and planning process. Early involvement enables Designing out Crime Officers to provide advice and guidance on how schemes can be carefully designed pre-planning to minimise the risk and fear of crime. The advice Designing out Crime Officers provide is site specific and informed by research into the current crime and emerging problems in the area.

The advice of Designing out Crime Officers can help ensure new developments are designed to create natural surveillance and foster stewardship, with streets and public spaces that are well defined by buildings, overlooked by windows and doors, and well used.

Secured by Design and Designing out Crime Officers have a vital part to play in placemaking and the design process to ensure that places are safe and create an environment where people want to live, work and play. The advice of Designing out Crime Officers is free, so please make use of this service and help us in making a safer Wales.

Secured by Design guidance and Designing out Crime Offer contact details can be found here: www.securedbydesign.com.