Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. CPTED strategies rely upon the ability to influence offender decisions that precede criminal acts.

The proper design and effective use of the built environment can reduce crime, reduce the fear of crime, and improve the quality of life. Built environment implementations of CPTED seek to dissuade offenders from committing crimes by manipulating the built environment in which those crimes proceed from or occur.

For example, you can build glass elevators at buildings and apartment complexes to make the inside visible; place the playground at the center of apartment complexes where parents can easily watch their children; place emergency buttons along the underground parking lots; and designate the first underground floor as the parking lot for female drivers only.

You can also avoid poorly placed lights that create blind-spots for potential observers and miss critical areas and ensure potential problem areas are well lit: pathways, stairs and entrances/exits. These measures can be complemented by mechanical and organizational measures. For example, Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras can be added in areas where window surveillance is unavailable.

According to Lee Jonghyun, Ph.D. in civil design engineering, at Incheon Development Agency, “CPTED is one of the measures that can eliminate uncertain risks in citizens’ lives, thus has been widely applied as welfare basics with space design factored into. Incheon Metropolitan City needs to incorporate CPTED principles into its city planning legislation and regulation and make it institutional to adopt environmental design from the city design stage to prevent crimes.”

Incheon Metropolitan City has announced it plans to introduce guidelines for creating safe city environment incorporating CEPTED model and to apply the guidelines to various municipal development projects, private engineering and private architectures. In addition, the City plans to establish environmental design guidelines for buildings for women and the vulnerable members of society and to create design and implementation guidelines for security devices such as entrance security devices, CCTVs and emergency bells. For these plans, Incheon Metropolitan City will define guidelines that are relative to the condition of the City by the end of 2013 in cooperation with Incheon Development Agency and will legislate and enforce regulations and guidance for architecture during the first half of 2013.