8 Principles for Safety-Promoting Urban Planning

Choose mixed-use functions that are attractive and provide facilities for activities during large parts of the day. This promotes urban life, human presence, and natural surveillance.

“Eyes on the street,” also called “protective eyes,” is a key criminological concept that means being able to see others while also being seen by others. There is a distinction between informal surveillance from, for example, residents and passersby, and formal surveillance from guards, service personnel, or police. Eyes on the street can also include potentially present people, such as those in building windows facing the street or parking lots. An increased presence of eyes on the street — or even just the possibility of eyes being present, for example from windows — acts as a preventive measure and can reduce crime.

In urban planning, this means increasing the opportunity for individuals to pay attention to shared spaces, roads, and pathways, thereby being able to witness and deter criminal activity. When there are eyes on the street, it also helps to increase the feeling of safety.

Ensure good visibility and clear sightlines. Avoid blank, inactive, or closed facades and hiding spots. Prioritize active ground floors and windows facing public spaces such as paths, roads, and parking areas.

The principle of “see and be seen” is central here. To promote safety and prevent crime, it’s important to create clear visibility around homes and within neighborhoods. People should be able to see others and be seen while moving through the area. Designing paths and walkways with good sightlines helps residents orient themselves and maintain awareness. Public spaces, roads, and paths should offer views into and out of homes, especially near entrances. This can include ensuring windows face streets, paths, or shared outdoor areas.

Good visibility should be balanced with other needs, such as providing sheltered spots and places for rest and relaxation. It’s also important to eliminate hiding places that could be used by burglars near homes, access roads, and paths. For pedestrians and cyclists, the “visual buffer” — the distance from where they stand to areas outside their line of sight — should be kept clear, for example by avoiding dense vegetation close to paths.

Clear sightlines and openness along paths provide good orientation and allow people to change direction if they feel unsafe. It’s important to create clearly defined routes for different types of traffic so that everyone can move safely without fear of accidents.

Residents should feel secure when moving within their neighborhood and when transitioning to adjacent areas. Special attention must be given to pedestrians and cyclists, as they are the most vulnerable to crime and more likely to feel unsafe. Paths and routes with good visibility and openness on the sides offer excellent opportunities to orient oneself and change direction if necessary.

There should be clearly defined routes for different traffic types and good lighting along roads and paths. It’s preferable to concentrate traffic on a few central routes rather than many scattered ones, as this increases traffic intensity and natural surveillance on the main paths people use. It is often helpful to distinguish between safe everyday routes and optional recreational routes. However, recreational routes should not be used as shortcuts during daily routines, as this could turn them into unsafe everyday routes.

Special care should be taken with tunnels to ensure good visibility and to avoid hiding spots at entrances and exits. Tunnels should be wide and well lit, with space to move to the side outside the tunnel.

Access points from surrounding streets, roads, and paths to the inner areas of a residential development should be limited. The placement and design of public transport stops should be handled carefully, as these locations can be hotspots for crime.

Choose even lighting at the right height that does not cause glare and avoid disturbing light from other sources in the area. Use lighting with good color rendering that feels comfortable and pleasant. Ensure the lighting supports traffic safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Lighting along roads and paths affects both actual crime rates and the perception of safety or insecurity. Studies have shown that improved lighting can reduce crime, such as burglaries. Therefore, it makes good sense to focus on creating safety-enhancing lighting when planning safe residential areas.

It is important that safety-enhancing lighting in a given location is combined with people’s ability to observe the illuminated area. A lit path or tunnel does not necessarily increase the feeling of safety if it is deserted and lacks visibility from passersby. When installing new or modified lighting, consider how the lighting interacts with human presence or supervision.

Safety-enhancing lighting should clearly show the layout and dimensions of the street space and provide good color and facial feature rendering. Additionally, it should be pleasant and comfortable to move around in, without glare. Such lighting can encourage people to be out after dark, increasing informal surveillance (also called “eyes on the street”; see principle 1 above), which helps prevent crime.

Lighting on private property must not overpower public or shared lighting—for example, by brightly lit signs or poorly shielded lighting on construction sites near pedestrian and cyclist routes.

Create clearly defined spaces with easily recognizable boundaries—meaning a clear distinction between public, semi-public, semi-private, and private areas. This influences residents’ sense of responsibility and gives outsiders a clear understanding of when they are entering a more private area.

This principle originates from the concept of defensible space, introduced by Oscar Newman (1972). Residents’ protective instincts toward their homes and neighborhoods are harnessed here for crime prevention. The goal is to increase psychological ownership of the area. When residents and users have a say in defining the area’s use and identity, it leads to a stronger sense of ownership.

This principle can be implemented through clear ownership and responsibility arrangements for public or shared spaces. In residential areas, it’s recommended to clearly communicate to both residents and outsiders who is responsible for the different locations. Crime prevention benefits when different types of areas—public, semi-public, semi-private, or private—are clearly marked. Such zoning makes it easier for residents to feel connected to the area and participate in its development—while for an outsider like a burglar or other criminal, the area becomes riskier to enter.

Boundaries between these zones can be made evident through physical or symbolic barriers that support the expected use of the spaces. Examples include changes in paving materials or colors, low hedges, flowerbeds, and similar elements. Front yards, gardens, and terraces help create privacy around homes. The goal is to signal surveillance and good maintenance of the shared area. Public or communal areas should never feel like “no man’s land.”

Create inclusive public spaces that attract a diverse range of people across generations and other demographics. Consider the specific needs of the area.

Good opportunities for staying, socializing, and engaging in activities for all age groups can contribute to safety and help prevent burglaries and other crimes in residential areas. Places to gather encourage informal supervision, foster social interactions, and build community bonds—all of which support social awareness, control, and a sense of security. Knowing each other and having a shared community is key to keeping an eye on neighbors’ homes and belongings. Additionally, such gathering spots can increase foot traffic through the area, boosting informal surveillance (“eyes on the street”).

Meeting places and activity options can include more established facilities such as playgrounds or sports areas for youth and adults. When creating these spaces, it’s recommended to consider different user groups who may use the facilities at different times of day. Facilities for dog walkers can also be valuable, as their regular presence during daily walks significantly reduces the risk of burglaries.

General good maintenance of pavements, planting, street furniture, façades, and more sends a clear signal that someone cares for and takes responsibility for the place. Disorder breeds disorder.

To prevent burglaries, cleaning and maintenance in a residential area also play an important role. Visible and direct signs such as graffiti, vandalism, broken windows, abandoned bicycles, litter, and damaged plants can be linked to assumptions of a lack of social control. Overall, there is a connection between neglect and poor maintenance on one hand and the presence of both perceived insecurity and actual crime on the other. In criminology, it is said that "vandalism breeds vandalism," and evidence suggests that disorder and litter can be associated with multiple types of crime.

Good maintenance of areas, on the other hand, is assumed to increase residents' sense of ownership (see the principle on psychological ownership and responsibility). Proper cleaning and upkeep in a residential area is therefore a key factor in preventing insecurity and crime, including burglary.

Security measures such as fences or video surveillance may be necessary. These measures should be carefully designed, of high quality, and fit well into the urban environment so they do not contribute to feelings of insecurity.

Locked fences and technical burglary protection are examples of physical protection. Together with security equipment like video surveillance, they can sometimes have a positive effect on both safety and burglary prevention. Physical security measures may be especially necessary in sparsely populated areas where there are few “eyes on the street” or where certain objects are particularly attractive targets for burglary. The equipment should be carefully designed, high quality, and blend into the surroundings.

However, physical protection and security equipment such as video surveillance must be used with great care. Visible security devices like bars can often create insecurity, as can signage indicating risks of crime, for example, signs about video surveillance.

On the other hand, so-called “perimeter security” aimed at protecting against burglary has significant crime-preventive importance. This means protecting the exterior of buildings with high resistance to forced entry attempts on windows, doors, and locks.