Studies by Newman (1973; 1980, 1996) and others (e.g. Poyner, 1983; Coleman, 1985; Poyner and Webb, 1991) have all indicated an association between environmental design features and levels of crime; particularly features that allowed unrestricted pedestrian movement through residential complexes.
However, researchers have also found that busier streets with some pedestrian movement have experienced reduced levels of recorded crime (Hillier and Shu, 2000a, 2000b).
The permeability debate continues to rage within planning and designing out crime.
