Newman – Defensible Space Principles
The concept
- All defensible space programs have the common purpose of restructuring the
physical layout of communities to allow residents to control the areas around their
homes.
- Helps people preserve those areas in which they can realize their commonly held
values and lifestyles.
- Relies on self-help rather than on government intervention – not vulnerable to
governments withdrawal of support
- Resident involvement to reduce crime and remove the presence of criminals.
- Brings people of different incomes and race together in a mutually beneficial union.
- For low-income people, Defensible Space can provide an introduction to the benefits
of main-stream life and an opportunity to see how their own actions can better the
world around them.
Evolution of the concept: Pruitt-Igoe and Carr Square Village
- Newly constructed 2,740 unit public housing Pruitt-Igoe
- A river of trees – each building given communal corridors on every 3 rd floor to house
a laundry, communal room and a garbage room that had a garbage chute
- Single-parent welfare families, the design proved a disaster
- Never achieved more than 60% occupancy – unsafe area covered with garbage and
human waste
- Older smaller row-house complex – Carr Square Village – fully occupied and trouble-
free throughout construction
- Landings shared by only 2 families were well-maintained, whereas corridors shared
by 20 families were a disaster, no feelings of identity or control.
- Low-income – more crime, less funds for 9-5 nonresident maintance men
The effect of housing form on residents ability to control areas
- Dwelling unit: interior of an apartment unit or home
- 3 categories for buildings: single-family houses, walk-ups and highrises
- Single-family homes come in 3 basic types: detached houses, semi-detached houses
and row houses – in each type the common trait is the private domain of 1 family
Summary of the effect of building type on behaviour
- The larger the number of people who share a territory, the less each individual feels
right to it
- Easy for an informal understanding to be reached among the families as to what
constitutes acceptable usage
The concept
- All defensible space programs have the common purpose of restructuring the
physical layout of communities to allow residents to control the areas around their
homes.
- Helps people preserve those areas in which they can realize their commonly held
values and lifestyles.
- Relies on self-help rather than on government intervention – not vulnerable to
governments withdrawal of support
- Resident involvement to reduce crime and remove the presence of criminals.
- Brings people of different incomes and race together in a mutually beneficial union.
- For low-income people, Defensible Space can provide an introduction to the benefits
of main-stream life and an opportunity to see how their own actions can better the
world around them.
Evolution of the concept: Pruitt-Igoe and Carr Square Village
- Newly constructed 2,740 unit public housing Pruitt-Igoe
- A river of trees – each building given communal corridors on every 3 rd floor to house
a laundry, communal room and a garbage room that had a garbage chute
- Single-parent welfare families, the design proved a disaster
- Never achieved more than 60% occupancy – unsafe area covered with garbage and
human waste
- Older smaller row-house complex – Carr Square Village – fully occupied and trouble-
free throughout construction
- Landings shared by only 2 families were well-maintained, whereas corridors shared
by 20 families were a disaster, no feelings of identity or control.
- Low-income – more crime, less funds for 9-5 nonresident maintance men
The effect of housing form on residents ability to control areas
- Dwelling unit: interior of an apartment unit or home
- 3 categories for buildings: single-family houses, walk-ups and highrises
- Single-family homes come in 3 basic types: detached houses, semi-detached houses
and row houses – in each type the common trait is the private domain of 1 family
Summary of the effect of building type on behaviour
- The larger the number of people who share a territory, the less each individual feels
right to it
- Easy for an informal understanding to be reached among the families as to what
constitutes acceptable usage
