In Defensible Space (1972) the architect Oscar Newman argued that the physical layout of housing influences crime by shaping residents' sense of ownership and their ability to oversee shared areas. Drawing on public-housing projects in New York, he advocated clearly bounded, surveyable spaces under residents' informal control. The related idea of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), articulated by C. Ray Jeffery in 1971, set out principles of natural surveillance, access control and territoriality, treating design as a tool for reducing opportunities for crime.
It made safety and surveillance explicit criteria in the design of housing, estates and public space, for both better and worse. Defensible space and CPTED shaped decades of guidance, while also drawing criticism for encouraging fortress-like enclosure.
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