It is argued that housing designs and layout systems for crime prevention can have either
positive or negative implications on the actual prevention of crime. Therefore, this research
explores the exact implications that housing designs and layout systems have in relation to
crime in RDP development neighbourhoods. Various principles such as defensible space
principles and crime prevention through environmental design are emphasized in this study:
Surveillance, territoriality, access control, image and milieu. Other supporting characteristics
like housing design principles including housing structures, support activities and gated
communities are highly elaborated, as well as street layout. These analytical criteria were
used to examine the Chesterville RDP developments. Procedurally, the evaluation entailed
analysing both street layout and housing design and analysing the views and perceptions of
people living in the area. The findings indicate that residents of Chesterville display high
level of perception of safety although they do acknowledge that there is petty crime once in a
while. The researcher asserts that overall housing design and layout systems for crime
prevention have positive implications on crime reduction in residential areas.
The study also investigated the type of criminal activities that occur in the area. The study
analysed the types of criminal activities which were related to housing and layout in
Chesterville RDP developments. Data was collected by conducting household surveys and an
interview with the community leader. Local and international case studies that were used
revealed interesting scenarios of the usage of environmental design to aid crime prevention.
In the context of Chesterville the main findings showed that there is a sense safety in the area
although assault was found to be high. The study thus proposed recommendations in an
attempt to improve crime reduction in Chesterville as a whole.
This dissertation is structured as follows: The chapter one introduces the research problem,
research questions, hypothesis, and the research method used to conduct the study. Chapter
two provides both the theoretical framework and the literature review for the topic being
studied. International and national case studies are used to support the flow of the argument.
Chapter three introduces the geographical and historical background of case studies in which
the study was conducted. This historical background is linked to the topic of study to help to
understand the phenomenon of crime prevention. Chapter four deals with the presentation and analysis of data collected and in chapter five conclusions are drawn from the findings and
recommendations are made. / Thesis (M.Housing)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/11244 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Ndwamato, Awelani. |
| Contributors | Myeni, Vincent. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds