Measure type: Maintenance

Maintenance is the measure of discouraging crime by designing places with management and maintenance in mind.

Description

Research has shown that a lack of maintenance can act as a disinhibitor for certain crimes. A lack of maintenance over the environment can be seen as "a signal that there is little or no surveillance over an area, that there is little or no social authority exerting control over an area, and that consequently deviant behaviour may be tolerated".

Whereas the maintenance itself is usually not a concern of the urban planner, the design for easy maintenance (including repair) is.

Examples

• Coated walls for easy removal of graffiti
• Modular street furniture that can quickly be replaced or repaired if damaged
• Street designed for mechanized cleaning, i.e. wide enough and without inaccessible nooks and crannies
• Greenery chosen for easy maintenance
• Design of the public space to support maintenance, such as providing easy access for maintenance (e.g. support for cleaning of windows on higher floors), preventing wind corners where debris might gather, designing traffic flows to prevent litter in inaccessible places.

Effectiveness

Security issues where this measure can be effective and influenced by the urban planner, are:

Financial gain	Boredom or compulsive behaviour	Impulse	Conflict in beliefs
Burglary{{#info:Burglary is the crime of illicitly entering a building with the intent to commit an offence, particularly (but not limited to) theft.}}	Physical assault{{#info:Assault, is a crime which involves causing a victim to fear or to experience any type of violence, except for sexual violence}}	Destruction by riots{{#info:Destruction by riots is the act of vandalism of property by organised groups for a shared rational or rationalised reason.}}	Mass killing{{#info:Mass killing is the crime of purposely causing harm or death to a group of (unknown) people in order to make a statement or to influence the public opinion. This threat is exerted out of wilful action by fanatics: terrorists or criminal activists.}}
Ram-raiding{{#info:Ram raid is a particular technique for burglars to gain access to primarily commercial premises, by means of driving -usually stolen- vehicles into locked or closed entrances, exits or windows.}}	Sexual assault{{#info:Sexual assault is assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent}}		Destruction of property by fanatics{{#info:Destruction by fanatics is the crime of purposely causing damage in order to make a statement or to influence the public opinion.}}
Pickpocketing{{#info:Pickpocketing is a form of theft that involves the stealing of valuables from a victim without their noticing the theft at the time. }}	Vandalism{{#info:Vandalism is the act of wilful or malicious destruction, injury, disfigurement, or defacement of property without the consent of the owner or person having custody or control.}}
Robbery{{#info:Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. It is used her exclusively for acts committed to individual persons.}}	Graffiti{{#info:Grafitti is the defacement of property by means of writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed on a surface in a public place without the consent of the owner or person having custody or control. }}
Raid{{#info:Raid is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value from a commercial venue by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear.}}	Antisocial Behaviour{{#info:Antisocial behaviour is an accumulation category of relatively small crimes that highly influence the security perception of citizens. }}
Vehicle theft{{#info:Vehicle theft is the crime of theft, or attempt of theft of or from a motor vehicle (automobile, truck, bus, motorcycle, etc.).}}

Considerations

General considerations

Designing for easy maintenance can be most effectively implemented in cooperation with the persons or organisations responsible for this maintenance.

Safety/security considerations

One should be careful to provide easy access for maintenance indiscriminately, as this might result in criminals (burglars, vandals) misusing this to facilitate their crimes.

A lack of maintenance can lead to unsafe situations (such as sharp edges being exposed) and an increase in vulnerability (such as mouldered door posts which are easy to break).

Vandalised picnic table, showing sharp edges and unsafe for use

By designing for easy maintenance, these risks can be minimized, as repairs can be executed quickly.

By assuring a well-maintained public space, the risk of bad maintenance working as an incentive to other crimes can be avoided.

Economic considerations

Urban objects generate annual expenditures such as building services, utilities, repairs and maintenance. On the benefit side, maintenance extends the economic life of assets, has a positive environmental impact, improves social aspects like employee well-being, and mitigates crime and vandalism. In addition, asset maintenance creates secondary economic impact due to the re-spending of maintenance fees by maintenance workers, contractors, etc.

Whether extra focus on maintenance in order to increase security makes sense from an economic point of view depends on many factors and is case dependent. One should first of all ask compare the potential cost-benefits with other alternatives. Secondly, one has to take in account which parties are affected by the increase in maintenance, who is paying for it and last but not least, how the envisioned measures adjust the behaviour of criminals/terrorists.

Economic tools such as the social cost-benefit analysis (first question) and economic impact study (second question) can help the decision makers to answer these questions and to prevent wasteful expenditures on security (of course in collaboration with insights from criminology, sociology, etc.).