OSCAR

NEWMAN
Sept 30, 1935
April 14, 2004
 I N T RO D UC T I O N

Personal
Born: Sept. 30, 1935, in Montréal, Canada.
American citizen by na turalization: 1972.
Professional
Graduat e in Architecture and City Planning 1959, McGill University,
Montreal (6-year program).
Post-graduate studies in housing and city planning in Europe, primarily in
the Netherlands, between 1959 and 1961, resulting in a major monograph
published in the Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and
the United States.
President or Executive Director of three firms:

President, The Institute for Community Design Analysis, a not-for-profit

research corporation (since 1972).
President, Oscar Newman and Associates, Architects and City Planners
(since 1963).
Executive Director, Interdenominational Housing Program, a not-for-profit
housing organization (since 1986).
 B I OG RA P HY

 Oscar Newman is a registered architect and city planner, known

internationally for his architectural work, research, and writings in
the fields of community planning, assisted housing, crime
prevention, and racial integration.
 He runs two firms in Hensonville, NY: an architectural and planning
firm that consults throughout the world; and the Institute for
Community Design Analysis, a not-for-profit research corporation that
formulates housing policies for federal, state, and local governments.
The Institute has successfully completed over $2 million of
government funded research.
 Mr. Newman recently implemented a Federal Housing Remedy Order
in the Yonkers Housing Discrimination case, planning and directing
the construction of hundreds of units of scattered-site public housing
in white, middle-income areas while maintaining community stability.
 Prior to the founding of the Institute, Mr. Newman was professor of
architecture and city planning at Washington University in St. Louis,
and at Columbia University and New York University in New York.
 T H E DE F E N SI BL E SP A C E T HE O RY

 The Defensible Space Theory of architect and city planner Oscar

Newman encompasses ideas about crime prevention and
neighborhood safety. The theory developed in the early 1970s, and
he wrote his first book on the topic, Defensible Space in 1972. The
book contains a study from New York that pointed out that higher
crime rate existed in high-rise apartment buildings than in lower
housing projects. This, he concluded, was because residents felt no
control or personal responsibility for an area occupied by so many
people. Throughout his study, Newman focused on explaining his
ideas on social control, crime prevention, and public health in
relation to community design.
 KE Y P O I N T S OF T H E T HE O RY

 Defensible space is defined as "a term used to describe a

residential environment whose physical characteristics—building
layout and site plan—function to allow inhabitants themselves to
become key agents in ensuring their security.“
 Society and physical elements are both parts of a successful
defensible space.
 An area is safer when people feel a sense of ownership and
responsibility for that piece of a community.
 If an intruder can sense a watchful community, he feels less secure
committing his crime .
 F A CT OR S O F D E F E N SI BL E SP A C E S

There are four factors that make a defensible space:

 Territoriality – the idea that one's home is sacred

 Natural surveillance – the link between an area's physical
characteristics and the residents' ability to see what is happening
 Image – the capacity of the physical design to impart a sense of
security
 Milieu – other features that may affect security, such as proximity
to a police substation or busy commercial area
 INTENTION

 To create a sense of territorialism in community members

 Housing should be grouped in such a way that members feel a
mutual benefit.
 To deter crime, areas should be defined for function, paths should
be defined for movement, outdoor areas should be juxtaposed with
homes, and indoor spaces should visually provide for close watch of
outside areas.
 P R I N C I P LE S

 Th e assignment to different resid en t groups the specific environments. Th ey

are best able to utilize and control, as determin ed by their ages, life- styles,
soc ializin g proclivities, b ackgroun ds, incomes, and fa mily stru ctu res.
 Th e territorial definition of spac e in residential d evelopments is to reflect
the zone of in flue nce of specific in habitan ts. Residential environments
should be subdivided into zones toward which adja cent residents can easily
adopt p roprietary attitu des.
 Th e juxtaposition of d welling interiors with exterior spaces and the
pla cement of windows to allow residents to na turally survey the exte rior and
interior public areas of their living environments an d the areas assigned for
their use.
 Th e juxtaposition of d wellings—their entries and a menities—with city streets
so as to incorpora te the streets with in the sphere of influence of the
resid en tial environ ment.
 Th e adop tion of building forms an d idioms that a voids the stigma of
peculiarity th at allows others to perceive the vuln erability a nd isola tion of a
particular group of inh abitants.
Building Dwelling unit: It is
the interior of
an apartment unit

typology or home.
SI N G LE - F A M I L Y HO USE S
DETACHED HOUSES; SEMIDETACHED HOUSES; AND ROW HOUSES (ROW HOUSES ARE
ALSO CALLED TOWN HOUSES).
W A LK -U P BUI L DI N G S
T H E E LE V A T O R HI G H -RI SE
T H E E F F E CT O F B UI L DI N G T Y P E O N RE SI D E N T S’ C ON T R OL OF
ST R E E T S
RO W -HO USE DE VE L OP M E N T

 The rear yards, which are fully

enclosed, are private.
 semiprivate lawn abuts the
sidewalk, and the family car is
parked at the curb.
 most of the outdoor areas and all
of the indoor areas are private
 a good portion of what is a legally
public street is viewed by
residents as an extension of their
dwellings
GA RD E N A PA RT ME NT D E VE L O P M E N T

 The families living on the ground

floor have been given their own
patios within the interior courts
 The remainder of the interior
court belongs to all the families
sharing a cluster
 Each entry now serves six
families rather than one and is
thus semiprivate rather than
private
 the sidewalk and street are not
clear extensions of the realms of
individual dwelling units.
HI G H -RI SE DE VE LO PM E N T

 The grounds around the

buildings are accessible to
everyone and are not assigned
to particular Buildings
 no building entries face
streets therefore the
sidewalks are also public
 the entire ground surface of
the four-block area is public
 All the grounds of the project
must be maintained by
management
A HI G H -RI SE A N D W A LK -U P BU I L T A T T H E S A M E DE N S I T Y

 A high rise and a walkup

built at the same
density.
 The project on the left is
turned in on itself, away
from the public street,
 while the one on the
right brings the streets
within the control of the
residents.
C OM P A R I SO N O F T W O W A LK U P S SU B D I VI D E D DI F F E R E N T L Y

 Both buildings serve a

total of 24 families
each.
 In the upper layout, all
24 families share 2
common entrances and
8 families share a
common corridor on
each floor.
 In the lower design,
only 6 families share a
common entry, and
only 2 families share a
common landing on
each floor.
CASE
Pruitt-Igoe in St.
Louis

Carr Square

STUDIES Five Oak,Ohio

Clason Point Village

Yonkers
OV E RA LL VI E W O F P RU I T T -I GO E I N ST . L O UI S

 2,740-unit public housing

high-rise.
 It followed the planning
principles of Le Corbusier and
the International Congress of
Modern Architects.
 Residents were raised into the
air in 11-story buildings.
 “A river of trees” was to flow
under the buildings.
 The idea was to keep the
grounds and the first floor free
for communal activity.
A R C H I T E CT ' S VI S I ON OF C O M M U N A L C OR RI D O R

 Occupied by single-parent,
welfare families, the design
proved a disaster. Because all
the grounds were common and
disassociated from the units,
residents could not identify
with them.
 Building was given communal
corridors on every third floor to
house laundry, communal
room, and a garbage room that
contained a garbage chute.
 The river of trees soon became
a sewer of glass and garbage.
The mail-boxes on the ground
floor were vandalized.
 A C T U A L 3R D F L O OR C OM M U N A L C O RR I D OR O F P R U I T T -I G OE

 The areas proved unsafe.

 The corridors, lobbies,
elevators, and stairs were
dangerous places to walk.
They became covered with
graffiti and littered with
garbage and human waste.
 Women had to get together in
groups to use the corridor.

 Excluding the interior public areas of the development there were

occasional pockets that were clean, safe, and well-tended. Where only
two families shared a landing, it was clean and well-maintained. Vast
difference between the interior of the apartment and the public spaces
outside.
VA N D A LI S M I N PRUI T T -I G OE

 One could only conclude

that residents
maintained and
controlled those areas
that were clearly defined
as their own. Landings
shared by only two
families were well
maintained, whereas
corridors shared by 20
families, and lobbies,
elevators, and stairs
shared by 150 families
were a disaster—they
evoked no feelings of
identity or control .
P RU I T T -I GOE I N T H E P R OC E SS O F BE I N G T OR N DO W N

 The project never

achieved more
than 60 percent
occupancy.
 It was torn down
about 10 years
after its
construction and
became a
precursor of what
was to happen
elsewhere in the
country.
C A RR SQ UA R E VI LL A G E

 Across the street from

Pruitt-Igoe was an older,
smaller, row-house
complex, Carr Square
Village, occupied by an
identical population.
 It had remained fully
occupied and trouble-free
throughout the
construction & occupancy.
GR A P H OF I N CR E A SE I N C R I M E W I T H BU I L D I N G HE I G H T

 Relationship between
the increase in crime
and increased building
height and that crime is
mostly located within
public areas.
 M I N I -N E I G HB OR HO OD S I N
F I VE O A KS , D A Y T O N , O HI O

 C on t a i n s 2 , 0 0 0 h ou s e h ol d s , o r
a b ou t 5 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , i n h a b i t i n g
on e - a n d t w o- f a mi l y h om e s a n d
s om e s ma l l a p a r t m e n t
b u i ld i n g s .
 T he p r o b l e m s e x p e r i e n c e d b y
F i ve Oa k s a r e t y p i c a l o f ol d e r
u r b a n c o m mu n it i e s lo c a t e d ne a r
t h e d o w n t ow n c o r e : h e a v y
t h r ou g h t r a f f i c ; r i s in g c r i m e ; t h e
vi s u a l p r e s e n c e o f d r u g d e a l e r s
a n d p r o st i t u t e s ; s i n gl e - f a m i l y
h om e s b ei n g c on ve r t e d t o
m ul t i f a mi l y u s e ; t h e c on t i n u i n g
r ep l a c e m e n t o f w h i t e , mi d d l e -
Five Oaks’ location between the downtown and the a n d w or k i n g- c l a s s p r o p e r t y
suburbs also turned its interior streets into a network of ow n e r s w it h l o w -i n c om e ,
cut-through traffic as commuters used them to avoid the m in o r i t y r e n t e r s; a n d g e n e r a l
larger, traffic-laden arterials at the periphery of the d i s in v e st m e n t .
community.
M A P OF F I VE O A KS SH OW I N G P E R C E N T O F R E N T E R S I N
DIFFERENT AREAS

It contains a variety of different

types of housing: stately homes
constructed of brick and stone
and situated on large lots; wood
frame houses on small lots.
Other streets contain two story,
two-family houses that share a
common wall, and two- and
three-story apartment buildings.
Some of the arterial streets have
medium high-rise apartment
buildings on them.
Many homeowners had move
away and were renting their units
in either their original form or
subdivided. This was partially
because they were unable to sell
their homes at reasonable prices.
GA T E S C L O SI N G OF F ST RE E T

 The dynamics of population

change in the community had
led to increased tensions
between the older, permanent
homeowners and the new,
transient renters who were
seen as a threat to the
stability of the neighborhood.
 The community had entered a
spiral of decline that
appeared irreversible.
 Restructuring of streets to create mini-neighborhoods accomplishes:
 It alters the entire look and function of the community;
 it completely removes vehicular through-traffic (the only traffic
remaining will be seeking destinations within each mini
neighborhood);
 It completely changes the character of the streets (instead of being
long, directional avenues laden with traffic, they become places
where children can play safely and neighbors can interact).
 By limiting vehicular access, the streets are perceived as being
under the control of the residents. Fewer cars make it easier to
recognize neighbors—and strangers.
GA T E S C L O SI N G OF F ST RE E T

Resident participation in paying

for the gates is important for
three reasons:
■ It instills a sense of
ownership, and enhancing
proprietary feelings. Paying for
one half the cost of the
modifications gives residents a
possessive attitude toward the
gates and the semiprivate
streets they create.
■ It gives the community more
control over the future of the
modifications.
GR E E K C RO SS PLA N F O R I D E A L M I N I -N E I G HBO RH O OD

 Cul-de-sac configurations
should not be too large, for
they take residents too far
out of their way and produce
too much of their own
internal traffic.
SC HE M A T I C SH OW I N G I D E A L W A Y T O A C C E S S M I N I -
N E I G HBO RH OO DS F RO M A RT E RI A LS .

 Mini-neighborhoods and their

access arterials should be
designed to facilitate access
but discourage through-traffic
in the overall Five Oaks
community.
 Once the mini-neighborhoods
are defined, people are asked
to become mini-neighborhood
captains. Their job is to make
certain that every household in
their mini-neighborhood is
aware of what is being planned
and participates in
determining which street will
remain open and where the
gates will be placed.
T U R N - A R OUN D A T E N D O F ST RE E T
C H I LD R E N PL A Y I N G I N C L OSE D ST R E E T

 Renter and homeowner

children playing
together in a cul-de-sac
street. The gates can be
seen at rear.
 With the neighborhood
changing and housing
values going up, people
found that it now paid
to make improvements.
 C LA SON P OI N T

 The modification of a row-house public housing project in the South

Bronx in New York City, where design strategies included the use of
fencing and curbs to reassign open grounds to individual residents,
as well as new paths, lighting, and play equipment to improve the
appearance of the project. The overall crime rate dropped 54
percent in the first year after these changes were made.
 400-unit public housing project a comparatively high-crime area
 It consists of 46 buildings that mostly contain row houses.
 Smaller walkup units for seniors are located at the ends of some
buildings.
 At 25 units per acre, this is a dense project by rowhouse standards.
Such a high density was achieved by limiting off-street parking to
0.15 spaces per unit.
C E N T RA L A R E A BE F O RE M OD I F I C A T I O N S

 Tenants identified
the central area as
the most dangerous
part of the project.
C E N T RA L A R E A A S M OD I F I E D

 Note that the extended front

yards of neighboring homes now
border the central area, bringing
more under residents’ control.
 To the surprise of many
residents, the grass came up in
abundance, and the ground
surface changed from packed
dirt to a carpet of green.
T Y P I C A L A R E A A F T E R M OD I F I C A T I ON S

 As Clason Point was almost devoid

of play and sitting areas, He
decided to transform this no-man’s
land into an intensive community
recreation area for all age groups.
 this central area was also located
at the intersection of a few of the
newly created walks, he turned it
into a heavily travelled, well
congregated, and inviting area by
treating it with the same lighting,
play equipment, and seating I had
provided elsewhere.
 Play node for young children: a
sandbox and a climber located to
serve a small cluster of families.
 The Central Area as
modified. Note that
the extended front
yards of neighboring
homes now border
the Central Area,
bringing more under
their control.

Plan for the conversion of the central area into a facility serving, from left to right, the
elderly, young children, and teens.
Aerial view of a
small portion of
Clason Point
showing how the
six foot fencing was
installed to create
collective rear
yards and the
curbing to define
front yards. Note
the location of the
play node serving a
small cluster of
families.
DI SP E RS E D , SC A T T E R E D -SI T E
PUBL I C H OU SI N G I N Y O N KE R S

 The dispersal of 200 high-rise

public housing families into
scattered-site townhouses in
middle-class neighborhoods
of Yonkers, New York. This
dispersion strategy involved
integrating designs with the
surrounding neighborhoods,
adhering to "Defensible
Space" concepts in grounds
design, and training residents
in home maintenance.
T Y P I C A L SI T E PL A N F OR A 2 4 -U N I T SI T E

 the 200 public housing

Units located on 7 sites.
 24 units on one site
 crime increased with the
number of units in a
housing project.
 the housing to look like
that of the surrounding
community so as to
make it unnoticeable.
T Y P I C A L SI T E PL A N F OR A 4 8 -U N I T SI T E .

 he was left with only

seven sites because of
government
disapproval
 forced to put as many
as 48 units on 1 site
and 44 on another.
 Their comparatively
large size meant that
these two sites Would
have to have their own
internal street
systems,
 All areas of each unit and site would be assigned for the
specific, private use of individual families.
 chose two-story row houses as our building type
 Rather than high-rise that have interior public areas.
 no public lobbies, no corridors, no fire stairs, no elevators.
 decided to do away with the collective garbage dumpsters that
normally serve large groups of residents
 These would be replaced with individual garbage cans, serving
each unit
E X I ST I N G HO USI N G ON L E F T N E W H OU SI N G O N R I G HT

 The new units

seek to capture
the look and feel
of the private
housing.
 Each family’s rear
yard was to be
defined by a small
fence
 small clusters of
rear yards were to
be collectively
fenced-off from the
surrounding streets
by a taller, 6-foot
fence.
Typical garbage dumpster
serving public housing.
Individual garbage cans
along the walks leading up
to each unit in Yonkers’
scattered sites.
RE SI D E N T S' A DO PT I O N OF RE A R Y A R D S A S T HE I R O W N
RE SI D E N T S' F R ON T Y A RD S A N D I N DI VI D U A L G A R BA G E C A N S
 CRIMES

 As established by Newman,
defensible space must
contain two components.
1.First, defensible space
should allow people to see
and be seen continuously.
2.Second, people must be
willing to intervene or report
crime when it occurs.

 The theory of crime prevention through environmental design is

based on one simple idea -- that crime results partly from the
opportunities presented by physical environment. This being the
case it should be possible to alter the physical environment so
that crime is less likely to occur.
 Newman put much of the blame for
the high crime rates of public
housing “projects” on their lay-out
and design.
 These factors conspired to attract
criminal predators who could commit
their crimes with little fear of arrest.
 The purpose of Newman’s
suggestions was to encourage
natural territorial behavior on the
part of residents by enabling them to
give surveillance to the public areas
around their individual residences.
 Nevertheless, Newman has had an enormous impact on the design
of public housing in many parts of the world. The wholesale
abandonment of tower block buildings for public housing owes
much to his arguments about their criminogenic potential.
 DESIGNS AND CODES THAT REDUCE
CRIME AROUND MULTIFAMILY HOUSING

 Research shows that crime rates are influenced by the design

of both the building and the space surrounding the building.
The key elements to look for are:
 ◗ Semi-public or semi-private space
 ◗ Sense of community
 ◗ Maintenance
 ◗ Siting
 Defining space as semi-public or
semi-private

 Architect Oscar Newman, in 1971,

reported crime rates to be much
higher in high-rise buildings
surrounded by open space than in
low-rise buildings with central
courtyards. Open space surrounding
high-rise buildings belongs to no one
– it becomes a no man’s land. If a
space is clearly designated as semi-
public or semi-private, as were the
courtyards and stoops in the low-rise
buildings studied by Newman,
residents know who belongs and
who doesn’t.
 D e v el o p in g D es i gn s t h a t Al l o w a C o m m u n i t y t o
D e v el o p a s en s e of c o mm u n i t y
 R es e a r c h f ou n d t h a t r a t e s o f vi o l en t c r im e i n
n e i gh b o r h oo d s w h er e r e s i d en t s k n ew a n d w a t c h e d
o u t f or o n e a n ot h er w e r e a s mu c h a s 4 0 % l o w er
t h a n i n n e i gh b o r h oo d s w h er e a s en s e of
c om m u n i t y w a s n ot p r e s e n t .
 S o m e o f t h e m os t a f f l u e n t n e ig h b or h o o d s st u d i e d
h a d a p oo r s en s e of c o m mu n it y ( a n d h i gh c r i m e
r a t e s ) , w h i l e so m e of t h e p o o r es t h a d a s t r on g
s e n s e o f c om m u n i t y ( a n d lo w e r c r im e r a t es ) .
 T o f o r m r el a t i o ns h i p s , p e op l e n ee d a p l a c e a n d a
r e a s o n t o ge t t og et h e r . Th i s c a n b e
a c c om m o d a t ed b y p r o vi d i n g g a t h er i n g pl a c es l i k e
a s m a l l p l a yg r ou n d f o r c h i l d r en , a c o m m u n i t y
g a r d e n, o r e ve n a f r on t p o r c h o r s t o o p .
 T h e p r es e n c e of t r e es a n d gr a s s h a s a l s o b e e n
a s s o c i a t e d w i t h r ed u c ed c ri m e r a t es , p o ss i b l y
b e c a u s e r es i d e n t s o f a w e l l l a n d sc a p ed b u il d i n g
s p e n d m or e t i me o u t si d e , a l lo w i n g t h e m t o ge t t o
k n o w on e a n o t h e r a n d d e ve l o p a se n s e of
c om m u n i t y.
 Maintaining the property
 Researchers have, for years, recognized something called the
broken windows syndrome. If property is not cared for, it
appears that no one is asserting ownership and no one cares
about it. These properties become magnets for crime.
 Choosing the site

 Numerous communities have found that concentrating poverty

breeds discontent and exacerbates social problems.
 Siting housing for low-income residents near transit, grocery
stores, work places and other services also addresses the
negative consequences of isolating the poor and leaving them
unable to help themselves.
 Al-Kasim appartments is a high-rise, low-
income housing project , surrounded by
open space – the public area was a no
man’s land.
 Askari apt is a housing co-op with three-
story units built around a common
compound. Windows overlook the
compound space.
 Studying these two housing
developments, it was found that very few
Al-Kasim appartment residents said they
would come to the aid of a crime victim
in their neighborhood. In Askari apt, the
majority said they would surely come to
the rescue of a neighbor.
The APWA housing project in Shah faisal colony, is
home to aproximately 1,000 residences, the
majority of whom live below the poverty line. Faced
with the physical decay and social collapse of Shah
faisal Town, the redevelopment agency decided to
retrofit the housing rather than demolish it.
The site was modified to create a series of small
house, connected by streets and paths. The vacant
land or destroyed house were redesigned to line
the streets with front porches, well-defined front
doors, and boundarys that surround individual front
and back yards. Many residents have created
gBaef
r dor
e nes tahned pphl ays
n ti ce a
d lf l o w e r s a r o u n d t h e i r h o m e s .
r e n ov a t io n s o c c u r r e d ,
t h e p o l i c e d ep a r t m e n t
w a s r es p o n d i n g t o 3 0
calls a day from the
area. After the
r e d es i gn , t h e n u mb e r
d e c r ea s e d t o t w o t o
t h r ee p e r w ee k .