If you don't consciously design-out crime, then most likely you will design-in crime. 

occasio facit furem
(opportunity makes a thief)

Broken Windows (Wilson and Keeling (1982) article) from The Atlantic Monthly

• Innocent Question: If "crime" is a problem, can't we just identify what causes crime and then neutralize these causes?
• Sad Reality: Unfortunately, we don't know what causes crime, but we sure have a lot of ideas about how to stop it!
  • Criminologists have yet to determine causes for crime and delinquency. This means that philosophy is driving crime prevention. To further confuse matters, different groups propose their own cherished causes and remedies which further advance their social agendas.

Spaces
Communities are an assemblage of  “spaces.” The size, diversity, and location of the community influences the number of different kinds of spaces present. These spaces exist whether they have been planned or unplanned. When these spaces have been designed, the intention is that they will be occupied and utilized by law abiding citizens. It's important that each space has a purpose and is designed and maintained to support the intended purpose. Should a space be perceived as being dangerous then the people for whom the space was designed may avoid the space as they become increasingly concerned for their personal safety. Nature hates a vacuum. These abandoned spaces will soon be occupied by people for whom the space was not intended. The space now becomes not only a blight upon the community but a source of fear for law abiding citizens and this places a burden on the local law enforcement agency.

Broken Windows
Wilson and Keeling (1982) used the image of a building with broken windows to illustrate how neighborhoods spiral into disorder and eventually crime if no one corrects the situation (fixes the broken windows).  It was Wilson that came up with the broken windows metaphor (Kelling & Coles, 1996).  If not repaired, the first broken  window will serve as a sign that no one cares or that no one is in charge.   

In addition to an actual broken window, there are other signs in urban areas that order is not being maintained. For example, an aggressive panhandler is a “broken window.” Failure to deal with the aggressive panhandler can lead to disorder when citizens begin to avoid the areas in front of stores where panhandlers operate. When there is lack of enforcement of existing laws concerning panhandling, other panhandlers relocate to the city to beg for money. Stores and businesses will not want to move to certain areas in the city where aggressive panhandling is allowed to occur and soon the entire business district suffers. [Please note that a return to the old days of street sweeping laws to control undesirables is not recommended and may not even be constitutional.] There are many signs in a community that serve as broken windows, including the vegetation that makes up the urban landscape (urban forest). A large dead tree, an unkempt lawn, even the presence of invasive species signal the presence of disorder on a property.   

Defining Disorder
 

Disorder is a sign, physical and/or behavioral, that criminal activity may occur. Kelling and Coles (1996) use the term “disorder” to describe the event which occurs prior to public fear, urban decay and eventually crime. Disorder for a neighborhood is a relative term that describes the deviation from a sense of order (norm) recognized by the residents. Residents that are familiar with the behavior of “regulars” in the area have a different threshold for disorder than someone driving through the neighborhood. Even police officers have to recognize that two similar acts can be interpreted differently depending upon the individuals committing the acts. Police will respond differently to citizens congregating in a park to observe a late night meteoroid shower than they would to a band of homeless individuals passing through the city wishing to spend the night in the same park. Both groups are violating the law but only the homeless individuals signal disorder and consequently the fear of crime for area residents.

Disorder

• Demoralizes communities
• Undermines commerce
• Leads to the abandonment of public spaces
• Undermines public confidence in the ability of government to solve problems  

The Importance of Maintaining Order
Recognizing that disorder is not the same for all neighborhoods, it is possible that inexperienced law enforcement officers my not recognize disorder for a particular neighborhood until it has escalated into a more dangerous situation for the residents. Long ago, police foot patrols helped to decrease the fear of crime because their presence and ability to recognize disorder in the different neighborhoods on their patrol. Naturally, measures to reverse this series of events would involve “restoring order.”  

When Good Spaces Go Bad
The following illustrates how many people focus on the treatment of the symptoms and fail to recognize the root of the problem. Recently, on a popular urban forestry on-line discussion board, a string of comments and proposed solutions were made to a problem posted by an urban forester concerning the congregation of "undesirables" under the shade of a large tree on a street corner in his community. The presence of these individuals had completely intimidated law abiding citizens from using this particular intersection. The unintended users  in this area became increasingly bold and routinely conducted drug transactions during the day. The on-line postings quickly moved to removal of the large shade tree at the corner as a means of discouraging the presence of the undesirables. This was followed by a wave of postings arguing for the preservation of the tree for the benefit of the community since the undesirables may just move to the next shady street corner. The point that should have been discussed was the original purpose of that particular space and why it was no longer being utilized for that purpose - not debating how "shade" will influence the behavior of drug dealers.