Crime Prevention through Environmental Design of Railway Stations as a Specific Soft Target

Abstract

Currently, we observe an increasing number of terrorist attacks and violent crime, resulting in a noticeable increase in nervousness and tension in society. Not only on the territory of Europe, but also throughout the world, terrorist attacks and violent crime are mainly concentrated near objects that are accessible to the public, characterized by a relatively low level of security and a high concentration of people, so-called soft targets. The tendency to control and influence human behaviors by reshaping the environment dates back to ancient times, with the crime prevention through environmental design strategy being a later product that arose as a result of the impact of urbanization and industrialization on the rise of crime in Chicago. The aim of the article is the contribution of new knowledge to society, which is presented through graphic designs of technical measures on the sustainability of the development of public spaces and communities, as well as the reduction of crime. The acquired knowledge is based on a holistic and integrated theory of crime prevention called the concept of CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design), which is dedicated to the identification of the conditions of the physical and social environment that allow the possibility of committing crimes and their subsequent modification intended to limit it. At the end of the article, a use case is presented on the object of the railway station, which is a public space and at the same time falls into the category of soft targets. Human choices shape the built environment, as well as tools that can be used to create sustainable urban and village development, which are also dependent on an acceptable crime rate. We are not testing environmental design as a way of thinking and a field of practices, but we are testing a particular method of environmental design (CPTED concept), which is focused on crime prevention, for a particular set of targets.