Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate “image management” as an important element within the concept to the Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Globally, guidance tends to focus on promoting surveillance and few studies have explored how vacant poorly maintained hou...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cozens, Paul, Tarca,, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34544
_version_ 1848754251466014720
author Cozens, Paul
Tarca,, M.
author_facet Cozens, Paul
Tarca,, M.
author_sort Cozens, Paul
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate “image management” as an important element within the concept to the Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Globally, guidance tends to focus on promoting surveillance and few studies have explored how vacant poorly maintained housing might affect perceptions of crime and CPTED. Design/methodology/approach – This paper contrasts the perceptions of 168 members of the public and 12 built environment professionals with regards to a detached property in Perth, Western Australia. Using two photographs to elicit responses (one poorly maintained and one well-maintained) respondents were asked about their perceptions of crime, and the extent to which CPTED features were perceived to be present. These results are contrasted with a site audit of the CPTED qualities visible in both images. Findings – The CPTED audit recorded significantly higher scores for the well-maintained property than for the poorly maintained dwelling. Most respondents indicated they felt less safe, perceived more crime and lower levels of CPTED in relation to the poorly maintained house. The findings provide support that there is a link between poorly maintained housing and the perceptions of CPTED, crime and the fear of crime. Originality/value – This innovative study utilised two photographic images of the same property to probe “image management”, perceptions of crime and CPTED qualities. It highlights the need to consider these issues throughout the different stages of the development process and presents idea of the “cradle to the grave” life-cycle of criminal opportunities.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:37:26Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-34544
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:37:26Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-345442017-09-13T15:14:32Z Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) Cozens, Paul Tarca,, M. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate “image management” as an important element within the concept to the Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Globally, guidance tends to focus on promoting surveillance and few studies have explored how vacant poorly maintained housing might affect perceptions of crime and CPTED. Design/methodology/approach – This paper contrasts the perceptions of 168 members of the public and 12 built environment professionals with regards to a detached property in Perth, Western Australia. Using two photographs to elicit responses (one poorly maintained and one well-maintained) respondents were asked about their perceptions of crime, and the extent to which CPTED features were perceived to be present. These results are contrasted with a site audit of the CPTED qualities visible in both images. Findings – The CPTED audit recorded significantly higher scores for the well-maintained property than for the poorly maintained dwelling. Most respondents indicated they felt less safe, perceived more crime and lower levels of CPTED in relation to the poorly maintained house. The findings provide support that there is a link between poorly maintained housing and the perceptions of CPTED, crime and the fear of crime. Originality/value – This innovative study utilised two photographic images of the same property to probe “image management”, perceptions of crime and CPTED qualities. It highlights the need to consider these issues throughout the different stages of the development process and presents idea of the “cradle to the grave” life-cycle of criminal opportunities. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34544 10.1108/PM-06-2015-0027 Emerald Group Publishing Limited fulltext
spellingShingle Cozens, Paul
Tarca,, M.
Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
title Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
title_full Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
title_fullStr Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
title_full_unstemmed Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
title_short Exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in Western Australia: Perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
title_sort exploring housing maintenance and vacancy in western australia: perceptions of crime and crime prevention through environmental design (cpted)
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34544