A Review of Theoretical Controversy about Security and Crime Prevention Methods

Sense of security is one of the building blocks of an appropriate urban design quality. In fact, a safe context for residing is one of the necessary needs of human being. Feeling unsecure in urban spaces and mental disturbances created by unsecure urban spaces, influences human activities and economical, social and cultural affairs will not work out properly. Sense of security refers to human and other their properties conservation. Lack of security will cause a sense of fear of crime and will end up in public spaces decline and un-functional urban spaces. Thus, creating a sense of security is accounted as a necessary component of a successful urban design. Sense of security is one of the basic factors of urban space`s sustainability which without it none of the urban spaces will be accounted as a presence of social interaction area. Therefore urban design is necessitated to set up key qualities in urban spaces. As it is common to prevent in instead of cure in our daily life, it is the same in urban spaces. Crime prevention, has the priority over all expensive governmental organization`s actions to treat up the crime committed. Basically tow approach in crime prevention is common among theorists. First, approach is none-place, which implies to decrease of destroying the personal intentions of crime. By behavioral educations, social, economical and cultural conditions improvement, setting regulations and fines. The second approach is place approach with the main goal of deteriorating the crime prevention Opportunity by using specific tactics in specific places. The present article, in addition to survey the theoretical controversies around these two approach`s, focuses on existing differences among each approaches theorists. at the end, a conclusion around these theoretical ideas (or theoretical controversies about security and crime) and the basic causes of these differences and controversies will be emphasized. By attending to all theories about" increases the sense of security "it would be possible to say that crime prevention is decreased by physical designs. Of course two attentions are fundamental in this point of view: first urban design qualities will take place synchronize and complementary which verify the complexity of relation existence. Creating sense of security needs other urban design qualities improvement such as: sense of place which encourages the citizens' presence in urban spaces. On the other hand defining an appropriate method for crime prevention needs a complete perception of local context. Injecting viability in a quite calm place in order to absorb people and their natural supervision and decreasing the crime committing possibility may seems useful, but if this viability crosses the border lines, it may causes urban spaces disorder.