ICA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2021
Why CPTED? Creating liveable environments

This presentation will summarise the main milestones in the evolution of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) practice over the last 21 years in the Hispanic Region, and also globally. It will describe the CPTED methodology, which was originally developed more than 50 years ago. The main theoretical framework will be discussed, emphasising First, Second and Third generation CPTED based on published journals. Measured success cases will be outlined, as well as successful CPTED instruments to measure and analyse the perception of urban insecurity. The ICA Umbrella Initiative with its global scope will be explained against the backdrop of the new ISO CPTED 22341 standard. The presentation will conclude with a view on the future role of CPTED within the context of the COVID pandemic and environmental challenges.

CPTED has long adopted security technologies to expand the basic principles of 1st Generation strategies, such as CCTV for improving surveillance and GPS geofencing to demarcate access control points. At a time of Smart Cities, when urban designers create livable urban environments by adopting security technologies, the CPTED movement - under the rubric of the ICA - must consider a rational and ethical way forward, especially given the threat from the exponential growth or Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is at the apex of new technologies. The implications for CPTED are significant. Since the invention of artificial intelligence by John McCarthy in the late 1950s, advanced machine learning has grown at an exponential rate. Advanced computing systems can now perceive and respond to the environment independently and some systems, such as advanced robotics, are at the point where they are making decisions without human intervention – the true intelligent machine. There are serious risks with the uncontrolled growth of artificial Intelligence. Since CPTED is already being confused with low level technologies like target hardening and technical security, we in the CPTED community must seriously consider the application of a high-level technology like AI into CPTED. The unintended consequences of low-level technologies have already backfired for CPTED. Political activists in urban design now claim “homeless reduction technologies” and “defensive architecture” have emerged from CPTED practitioners and they use these technologies in an exclusionary fashion, contrary to the Code of Ethics of the ICA. The situation will be much worse if AI begins to interface with CPTED. This presentation describes the threat of Artificial Intelligence to the CPTED movement, some of the potential unintended consequences, and the possible role of socio-technical design as an answer to AI systems that operate without direct human intervention.

During 2020, the Safer Sweden Foundation launched a new Swedish national standard for planning safe, liveable environments. The standard is based on the old national police standard, situational crime prevention theories and the universal CPTED principles. We will show you how a strong collaboration of multiple stakeholders, including municipalities, housing companies, private real-estate developers, architects, nation-wide security and tech companies, created a new standard with guidelines to be used in Swedish urban planning when renovating and building new housing, schools, offices, public places, public transport, etc. The presentation will highlight the foundational pillars of the standard and how the guidelines contribute to the planning of safe and inclusive cities and the creation of liveable environments. Furthermore, the impact of the standard so far will be presented by showcasing practical implementations of the guidelines in new development plans and projects, as well as redevelopment projects in problematic neighbourhoods.