Assessment of the Application of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) In Residential Estates in Minna

Abstract

Architecture right from the design of a simple building to the planning of an entire neighborhood can limit the opportunities for committing crime. Throughout the world, preventing crime has become a priority of citizens and government officials and thus all avenues including Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) are being explored towards the reduction and fear of crime. Each community however, has its peculiar crime and thus requires an individualist approach towards the use of CPTED. More also is that limited study exists in the use of CPTED in the prevention of crime which has been on the rise in urban residential estates such as Minna, the capital of Niger state. This paper therefore assessed the extent of the application of CPTED in residential housing Estates in Minna, Niger State using the four features the Oscar Newman’s 1973 principles of crime prevention. Data on the CPTED variables were collected via field observation conducted on housing estates in Minna. The descriptive statistics function of the SPSS was used to analyse the data collected, as well as showcase the pattern of CPTED in the housing estate. The findings of the research revealed some CPTED deficiencies such as lack of vehicular access control points (VACPs); hindered street surveillance due to high block-wall fencing practices and undulating vegetative cover; uncontrolled multiple entrance and exit points and improper environmental maintenance practices especially of the old buildings. This paper therefore recommends the adoption of some design features that can lead to a secured housing estate in Minna, and that this type of study should be carried out in other urban centers towards the reduction of crime.