NEW ENERGY FOR

URBAN SECURITY
IMPROVING
URBAN
IMPROVING URBAN SECURITY THROUGH
GREEN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY SECURITY
THROUGH GREEN
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
/ 3

[pg. 5] INTRODUCTION

[pg. 6] 1. THE GREATER CONTEXT OF GREEN AND

SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AS A
DISCIPLINE: AN INDEX OF THE CONTEMPORARY
CHALLENGES OF URBAN LIVING
1.1 Addressing the energy crisis / 1.2 Addressing urban pollution / 1.3 Recycling and minimizing
urban waste, and urban waste management / 1.4 Reprogramming the physical space and
material-based consumption: online services and cyber functionality / 1.5 Addressing urban
poverty / 1.6 Mediating conflicting interests in urban settings / 1.7 Supporting informed, efficient
urban management using situated technologies / 1.8 The literally green city / 1.9 Promoting
interactive architectures and individuated spatial responses / 1.10 Urban safety and security

[pg. 16] 2. FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD-GENERATION CPTED:

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GENERAL FIELD OF
PRACTICE

[pg. 22] 3. THIRD-GENERATION CPTED: URBAN-SCALE

GREEN, SUSTAINABLE AND TECHNOLOGICALLY
ENHANCED DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR FOSTERING
THE PERCEPTION OF SAFETY AND SECURITY IN
CITIES
3.1 Urban surveillance: the use of harvested natural energy as a power source for street lighting
/ 3.2 Enhancing urban surveillance naturally: integrating greenspaces into urban streetscapes to
create a more pedestrian-friendly urban fabric / 3.3 Cybernetically enhancing urban surveillance:
a thousand little sisters instead of one Big Brother / 3.3.1 Case Study - GEOBlog: community-
based digital storytelling / 3.3.2 Case Study - Mounted Mobile Camera Casts: a platform for
citizen-reporters / 3.4 Enhancing a citizen’s sense of belonging: interfaces for accessing real-
time information, conflict-mediation, and productive discussion / 3.4.1 Case Study - The Digital
Water Pavilon: interactive public architecture / 3.4.2 Case Study - The Cloud: interactive public
architecture / 3.4.3 Case Study - Eyestop: urban furniture as a portal of digital information / 3.4.4
Case Study - Flyfire: a new interface for delivering information / 3.5 Clarifying the dynamics of the
city in real-time: enhancing the image of a city as transparent, well-maintained, safe and secure /
3.5.1 Case Study - Borderline: mapping UK regions / 3.5.2 Case Study - Trash Track: implementing
custom sensor networks for urban surveillance / 3.5.3 Case Study - Live Singapore! / 3.6
Capitalizing on the potential of online social networks to create a sense of belonging, to foster
a culture of collaboration and to transform the “me-mentality” of individual urbanites to the
“us-mentality” of members of an urban, digitally enhanced multitude / 3.6.1 Case Study - The
Copenhagel Wheel: socially networked, digitally enhanced cycling / 3.7 Technologically enhanced
urban navigation contributes to the legibility of the city’s fabric, easing spatial perception and
enhancing the image of the city as user-friendly, safe and secure / 3.7.1 Case Study - AIDA: smart
navigation / 3.7.2 Case Study - Smart Signs: a tangible interface for collecting and delivering
information / 3.8 Establishing online platforms for municipalities worldwide to share their
experiences with third-generation CPTED, and the criteria used to evaluate the results

[pg. 48] 4. THIRD-GENERATION CPTED AND THE POST-

CONFLICT URBAN CONDITION

[pg. 52] 5. POLICY REMARKS AND CONCLUSIONS

[pg. 58] RELATED WORK AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

 1
The greater context of green and sustainable
environmental design as a discipline
An index of the contemporary challenges of urban living
/ 7

1.1 Urban-related energy consumption is mostly concentrated in two areas: mobility and conditioning
the urban spaces in terms of lighting and thermoception. Yet, urban energy consumption
Addressing the currently relies heavily on finite natural energy resources. As a response to the energy crisis,
energy crisis three closely connected sets of solutions are proposed:

/1 Deploying alternative, renewable, environmentally lower-impact energy resources,

/2 Optimizing energy consumption in terms of urban mobility,

/3 Optimizing energy consumption in terms of conditioning the city’s interior spaces.

In terms of alternative approaches to energy production, harvesting natural energy such as wind
and solar power is a potential solution. Natural energy harvesting can be deployed in centralized
sites, or locally within the erected structures of urban areas. Roofs and facades are possible sites
for these new, localized infrastructures of energy production: solar panels and small-scale wind
turbines can be integrated into a building’s architecture as roof or facade tiling systems.

For each and every substantial structure in the city, including buildings and furniture, localized
energy-harvesting mechanisms can be embedded to provide the required energy or augment
the fuel-based energy mechanism. In terms of more centralized urban landscapes, due to the
fact that natural energy harvesting is not a polluting industrial activity, wind or solar farms can
be integrated into the infrastructure of urban parks and street networks. Depending on the
morphology of the city, between 50 and 70 percent of the urban real estate is dedicated to
infrastructures of mobility. If you add rooftops, urban facades, and parks to this large amount,
you have vast surfaces within the city that can be considered as possible sites for harvesting
natural energy.

Another possibility for generating alternative energy for urban consumption is bio-fuel. Algae
is the most promising source of alternative, bio-based fuel production. Not only is the carbon-
based, bio-mass product of harvested algae a reliable source of energy, a by-product of algae
farming is highly efficient carbon sequestering that can alleviate the carbon footprint of urban
life. Just like wind and solar farms, algae farms can easily be integrated into both the urban fabric
and the individual structures of the city.

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 8

When it comes to urban mobility, different ways of optimizing mechanisms, leaving the un-occupied areas of the interior un-
energy consumption must be considered. Relegating real conditioned, and hence optimizing the energy consumption.
estate investment to developing dense urban cores instead of
creating more urban sprawl will result in a decreased demand While the above-mentioned design strategy looks at
for long-distance urban mobility. Designing multi-use zones energy consumption in interior conditioning, another set of
for living, working, shopping, and entertainment within these techniques can respond to the need for minimizing the energy
urban cores eliminates the need for daily trips between single- consumption of an entire building. Smart cladding systems,
function zones. Furthermore, enhancing the infrastructure and building materials enhanced with digital technology that
of public transportation, providing incentives to increase its function as context-aware cybernetic mechanisms, can be
use by the public, and discouraging private transportation used in the construction of substantial structures to regulate
are other possible techniques for optimizing urban mobility. heat gain and loss, depending on the season. For example,
For example, situated technologies can be deployed to create kinetic facades and shading devices can enhance heat gain and
smart, urban-scale tolling mechanisms that effectively minimize heat loss during the winter. Using natural techniques
penalize users of private transportation, for air ventilation and implementing digitally enhanced wind
catchers can also alleviate the energy consumption of air
Alternative, green modes of transportation should be ventilation during hot summers.
enhanced and their use should be encouraged. Smart

1.2
vehicles with hybrid modes of energy consumption and/
or electric vehicles can replace the conventional fuel-based
modes of urban vehicular transportation. Moreover, designing Addressing urban pollution
pedestrian-friendly cities will encourage citizens to navigate
the city on foot instead of relying on energy-consuming modes The conventional urban lifestyle has a detrimental impact on
of transportation. Properly designed infrastructures for biking the environment that includes air pollution, water pollution, soil
should be provided and their use encouraged by capitalizing pollution, and the generation of garbage and urban waste. Using
on digitally mediated social networks to incentivize the public fuel-based energy for urban mobility and interior conditioning
to change their mobility behaviors. The combination of digital bears the most responsibility for polluting the air. The previous
social networks and situated technologies can also promote section’s discussion of addressing the energy crisis by using
community-based ride sharing to circulate both individuals alternative energy and optimizing energy consumption can
and goods within the city. alleviate this situation. Purifying the air through integrated
infrastructures such as urban greenscapes is another path
Another major set of solutions to the challenges of urban to take. Photosynthesis is the natural mechanism for carbon-
mobility deploy situated technologies to provide context- sequestering—eliminating CO2. Particular types of vegetation
sensitive, real-time information about traffic that allows are also capable of capturing other toxic gases. To this effect,
inhabitants to make informed mobility decisions based on deploying green landscapes and green facades and roofs will
the most current urban dynamics. Platforms for delivering capitalize on real estate already provided within the fabric of
real-time information can impact the decision making of their the city for natural air purification mechanisms.
users at two levels. On one hand, they provide a realistic view
of traffic congestion, the most efficient route between origin Water waste is next on the list when it comes to the polluting
and destination, and information about public transport impact of urban areas. Efficient management of sewage
that allows users to plan their trips. On the other hand, this both locally, as in integrated septic tanks, and centrally, as in
type of information can impact the user’s individual mobility efficient sewage collection networks, needs to be prioritized
decisions, highlighting how individual decisions and the global in designing cities and the substantial structures within them.
conditions of urban transportation can negotiate and inform Furthermore, two different classes of water management
each other to establish a more efficient and environmentally should be incorporated both in urban infrastructures and
lower-impact paradigm of mobility. urban structures. Grey water, the water from showers and
kitchen sinks, can be treated where it is produced to be
In terms of optimizing energy consumption of interior spaces, recycled for uses that do not require intensive treatments,
instead of the conventional, holistic approach of conditioning such as watering the on-site vegetation. The production of
the entire space, one can integrate situated technologies when grey water can also be reduced by implementing digitally
erecting interior spaces. These technologies would provide enhanced, context-sensitive plumbing that minimizes the
the occupants with limited, personalized comfort bubbles that water usage. Different mechanisms at the architectural or
follow them within the space, and at any given time provide the urban scale can also collect water from rain or snow to be used
desired level of lighting and temperature for a particular zone on site, or to be managed centrally as a secondary source of
whose occupancy is identified through embedded sensing urban water. To this effect, all the horizontal surfaces within

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 9

urban areas, including streetscapes and roofscapes, can be iPhone app can transform the phone to a GPS navigation
possible sites of water collection. system for the car. Hence, there would be no need to acquire
another device for a certain service if a device one already

1.3
owns could be reprogrammed to do the job.

Recycling and mimizing urban waste, and waste management Moreover, many urban-related services that once required
a physical infrastructure are now being offered on online
Promoting a culture of recycling both as an actual mode of platforms—take banking as an example. This minimizes the
operation and a cultural image of urban living can decrease need for service providers or physical spaces of operation. The
urban waste. This is important to establishing a sense of less physical space is needed, the less physical space is erected,
ownership and belonging that contributes to the urbanite’s minimizing the negative impact of urban construction. On the
self-image as a member of a collective social entity. To this other hand, if the requirements of a given operation are less
effect, cyber structures of social networking can provide substantial, then the very same physical space can be used for
various opportunities to incentivize recycling between their different, simultaneous activities, given the right technological
members. Additionally, situated technologies can be deployed platform. For example, a publicly shared space can be used
in the waste management and urban removal chain to secure by a student to access the digital library of his college, while
the maximum efficiency of waste treatment and waste a professional uses it as a work space to communicate with
recycling on a large-scale and centralized mode. his colleagues via the audio-visual function on his personal
computing device. This demands that network services cover

1.4
whole cities, transforming all the existing physical spaces to
multi-functional spaces.
Reprogramming the physical space and material-based
consumption: online services and cyber functionality Taking this into consideration, some services could migrate
to cyber platforms: e-government, e-finance, and e-shopping
Another set of multi-disciplinary interventions can target the are among many of the most promising areas for this type
culture characterized by the production and consumption of investment and speculation. Once many urban services
of material products. Part of the appeal of urban living is are relegated to non-substantial or less-substantial modes
the prospect of a particular social status that an individual of operation, the physical spaces previously dedicated to
achieves by acquiring material resources and amenities. The governmental institutions, shopping, or banking would need to
conventional cultural image of urban prosperity is linked to be re-programmed. This reprogramming is a possible site of
the idea of possession: possessing property, books, gadgets, intervention by spatial practitioners, mainly urban designers
furniture, etc. The more the population demands human and architects.
artifacts the more is produced, and more artifacts means
more urban waste when they are discarded. To conclude, this sub-section looks at two closely connected
ideas: first, if urban services totally or partially migrate to online
We demand goods partly because we actually need them, platforms, the physical spaces they formerly occupied can be
and partially because possessing them creates an image of partially or totally reprogrammed for socio-cultural activities
prosperity. Promoting certain aspects of digital culture allows that require face-to-face interaction between the provider and
for decreasing the demand for both types of goods. On one recipient of a service. This would impact citizens’ perception of
hand, networked modes of living and cyber culture have their standard of living, while minimizing the need for physical
allowed for a paradigmatic shift from possession to access. In development by adding a digitally mediated depth to our cities.
the pre-cybernetic era, what one had would define him as a The word “reprogramming” the space best explains this half of
social being. In a cybernetically enhanced world, what we have the proposed package in that it clarifies that we do not propose
access to will define us. We do not have to possess cars as fully replacing the physical urban structures with cyber-space,
long as we can access a shared one with an online service that but that the space can be rearranged and digitally enhanced to
allows us to reserve it when and where we need it. This covers acquire a performative depth that allows for more efficient use.
the class of goods and products that we need, demand, and Second, migrating the sense of ownership from possessing
acquire out of necessity. material products to having access to cyber-services can
have an impact on the carbon footprint of urban living on one
For the other type, things that we acquire because of their hand and poverty on the other: the latter impact has a direct
appeal, digital or virtual products can substitute for their impact on urban security. What we define as petty crimes
physical counterparts. For example, an iPhone app can replace are crimes related to generating wealth for the acquisition
an accessory for the consumer base that is interested in being of goods and services necessary for urban living. These are
identified as a member of a certain social class. Or, another frequently committed by those who cannot afford the urban

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 10

lifestyle without resorting to criminal behavior. Moving some green environmental design. Cyber services can enhance
of the services and products to cyber platforms will reduce the small, family-based practices and self-employment. Different
cost of having access to them, which will likely eliminate the low-cost mobile services can be provided to small-scale
incentive to commit crime out of financial necessity. businesses whose owners are not particularly tech-savvy, but
are capable of adopting digital technology in their existing or

1.5
nascent businesses to connect to their consumer base and
regulate transactions with their target market.
Addressing urban poverty
The above-mentioned design-based interventions are not
One of the most pressing issues for today’s metropolitan limited to urban poverty in under-developed, developing, or
areas is that of urban poverty and the economic divide. Social developed urban areas, but can also be used in post-disaster,
housing and employment are two potential areas where green post-conflict situations. A section in the text that follows will
environmental design could intervene. Embedded technologies elaborate more on relationship between CPTED and post-
could efficiently monitor disadvantaged communities to conflict urban conditions.
prevent crime, while low-cost urban interventions could

1.6
improve the streetscape of less advantaged neighborhoods.
Cyber infrastructures of social networking could also be
deployed to create a sense of community and belonging for Mediating conflicting interests in urban settings
the members of these social groups, while providing a portal
to inform institutions and governmental or non-governmental Urban areas, particularly their public spaces, are potential
agencies about the pressing concerns of the community. sites of conflict between various groups and individuals with
differing social, cultural, political, and economic interests.
If some of the necessities of daily living are relegated to cyber However, they can also be sites of mediation between differing
platforms, the required domestic space for disadvantaged parties, particularly in post-conflict situations. Deploying
families could be minimized, while more communal and less situated technologies can transform the publicly shared
private activities could happen in public and semi-public spaces from zones of fear and conflict to interactive fields that
spaces. For example, if the culture of car-sharing is widely create a sense of community, belonging, and mutual social
promoted, then the space allocated to parking the family car interest.
could be omitted from architectural scheme of the domestic
space. Instead, publicly available parking lots all around the Different digital augmentation techniques can be used
city should be allocated for shared cars to be parked, available to make public spaces more interactive. Publicly shared
for booking via online services, and picked up at these architectural surfaces can transform to portals that deliver
locations around the city. If playgrounds, gardens, and parks real-time information to denizens. They can also be used as
are incorporated into the design of residential neighborhoods, digital boards for people to record their thoughts and concerns
this could compensate for the small size of a private home by about their city. Effective and occupant-friendly surveillance
providing space for activities such as children’s play, adults’ can discourage crime while enhancing the perception of
socializing, or exercise. Online services could augment the security in publicly shared urban areas. Integrated green
function of a neighborhood’s public spaces by providing a spaces can transform abandoned urban zones to oases of
cyber platform for the community to plan events, manage the calm and peace, rest and entertainment for communities.
booking and activity schedule of these spaces, communicate Low-cost and lightweight structures can enable these spaces
about their concerns and plans, etc, to serve as temporary sites for various social activities, such
as performances, markets for locally produced goods, low-
In this regard, green environmental design can be applied to cost classes, etc.
arrive at minimalist architectural schemes for small or extra-
small housing units. At the same time, embedded technologies Multi-functional urban furniture can provide various services
can convert the inert, fixed architectural spaces to multi-use, to different social groups. A multi-function bus stop can serve
responsive environments that transform in real-time based as an interactive portal of information for commuters while
on what they sense about the desires, needs, and preferences offering shelter to the homeless during night. For example, the
of their occupants, or their direct input. An architecturally bus stop’s bench might transform to a small shelter when it
responsive domestic unit can transform to a kitchen at one detects that the temperature is going below a certain point.
time, while maintaining the potential to change back to a living Additionally, providing platforms for digital graffiti in public
space. spaces will provide an interface for denizens to leave a non-
substantial imprint that distances itself from conventional
Employment is another possible site for intervention by modes of urban resistance and graffiti, which fall under the

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 11

category of vandalism. fire to show his anger about the passage of a certain law in the
parliament can now use the digitally augmented architectural
Substantializing cyber social networks within public spaces surface to voice his concerns. Digital urban screens controlled
with digital constructs and interactive artifacts offers the by citizens can be an addition to other peaceful/conflict-
potential for the sustainable regulation of social conflict. free demonstrations and civic opposition. An interactive/
As contemporary urbanites, we simultaneously live in responsive architecture that acts as a facilitator or mediator
two different, closely connected spheres: the hands-on of social interaction can also transform the space to a
material sphere, and the info-sphere populated by digitized creative venue. Installing interactive art within public spaces
annotations. Interfaces are points of interaction between transforms these spaces to more relaxed, eventful, or playful
these two systems, points that can be defined as information zones of social interaction, and that can have a direct impact
touchdowns for accessing and interacting with digitally on the perception of safety and security.
encoded messages. This information can be retrieved

1.7
based on the temporal, spatial, and contextual specificities
of the users, as well as their actively specified inputs. These
interfaces are facilitated by embedded sensors and actuators: Supporting informed, efficient urban management using
the sensors sense the context, while actuators respond to the situated technologies
change in the context based on what is sensed.
Cities are becoming more complex in their physical and virtual
Surface-as-interface is the domain in which bits and atoms are dynamics. To efficiently manage urban processes, officials
combined and the virtual and physical are married, creating need to have access to real-time information about how the
a hybrid condition out of the dynamic nature of information cities and their inhabitants operate. Situated technologies
and the intrinsically static character of architectures that are allow distributed sensor networks to collect information about
erected as substantial structures. Whereas in the realm of different processes of urban life via customized networks,
desktop or mobile computing, information retrieval happens such as environmental monitoring, or networks of smart
through mediators such as computers and handheld devices, tags that sense the modes of circulation of a particular class
thinking of architectural surfaces as sites for interacting of materials and goods within the city. A different class of
with information allows for eliminating the mediators, urban informatics is retrieved from already the operational
transforming the act of interfacing with the info-sphere to an service-providing networks that augment the city, collecting
intrinsic part of experiencing the city. Different techniques— information about how they are used. This by-product, the
from simple projections to embedded digital displays, to collected repository of data pertaining to the usage of urban
augmenting building materials with computation capabilities networks, can be accessed to retrieve valuable information
that transform them to low-resolution displays—can be used about how a city operates and how its citizens behave. A third
to transform architectural spaces to cradles of real-time, class of information is that which is willfully shared by citizens,
context-sensitive information. particularly on social networking sites or cyber platforms for
user-generated content. All three classes of urban informatics
Shared spaces are powerful tools for addressing the voices of can be combined and their data aggregated to provide a
the many. In recent years, social opposition and resistance have holistic view of what is happening in the city, to identify
frequently turned violent in the streets. In part, this is because certain patterns of risks and opportunities, and to decode the
the opposing parties do not have the proper interfaces to voice somewhat convoluted phenomena that we define as urban
their concerns. Digital surfaces in public spaces could remedy living.
this problem by serving as platforms for voicing community
concerns, either through digital graffiti or street slogan writing. On one hand, officials can access this information and factor
Gene Sharp provides a comprehensive theory of non-violent it into high-level managerial decisions about the city. On the
resistance and conflict-free social movements geared towards other hand, it can be fed back to citizens to give them a holistic
establishing a liberal democracy.1 Among the 176 methods of view of how their city operates and of the global impact of
non-violent civic action, a considerable portion is dedicated to their individual decisions, encouraging them to act more
formal statements; the communication of viewpoints, ideals, responsibly. These types of networks allow for a new form of
and demands with a wider audience; group representations urbanism that we define as real-time urbanism, one that is
and symbolic acts; and psychological, physical, and social democratic and sustainable in its very nature due to the fact
interventions. that the hidden processes of urban life become transparent
to all acting and benefiting parties. This idea of transparent
All of these civic actions need proper interfaces to manifest, urban dynamics can also have a direct impact on the citizens’
and digitally augmented public spaces are fruitful potential perception of safety.
venues for such actions: a student who set a garbage can on

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 12

Situated technologies can also be utilized to create city- functionality of a building’s HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air
wide, community-based, collaborative, and grassroots crime Conditioning) to help with air filtration. Additionally, if mass-
reporting mechanisms, where citizens themselves contribute produced and deployed in large quantities, artificial nature has
to a knowledgebase about the safety and security of their the potential to fundamentally transform our cities to more
city. Imagine a platform where citizens can stream what they ecologically efficient constructed landscapes, decreasing
detect as criminal behavior or safety concerns in real-time, the carbon footprint of urban living by optimizing indoor air
via their cell phones. This information can be geo-tagged, filtration. Furthermore, its deployment in erecting substantial
aggregated, and represented on an online map that others can structures comes with a certain appeal to the urban naturalist,
navigate to check how safe a particular part of the city is. Such who can now recombine his desire to explore the possibilities
a platform can be utilized as a tool to gauge the effectiveness of urban life with his yearning to maintain a certain proximity
of crime prevention and urban security policies.2 It is worth to nature. One can speculate on the not-so-far-off prospect
emphasizing that aside from community-based, collaborative of cities that function as living bio-organisms, with every
mechanisms, utilizing urban sensing mechanisms allows for imaginable surface breathing and letting inhabitants breathe
seamless monitoring of space, which has an impact both on in a technologically enhanced symbiosis between the natural
crime prevention and the perception of security. and the artificial.

On a more global scale, a wiki-like, urban information-sharing To this effect, green environmental design practices examine
platform designed with a multi-disciplinary approach provides ways to implement technological constructs that integrate
a portal for both the officials and citizens of various cities to artificial nature with architectural systems. Since urban
share with the global community their concerns, their failed greenscapes can influence how the space is perceived by the
and successful interventions, and green environmental inhabitants, an additional benefit is that they promise to make
modifications. Over time, this type of platform becomes the streetscape more welcoming to those who navigate the
a work-in-progress manual for designing and managing a city. A large part of making a streetscape safe and welcoming
sustainable city for a green, sustainable citizenship. is to make it pedestrian-oriented, and the incorporation of
greenscapes is integral to establishing the pedestrian nature

1.8
of the streets.

1.9
The literally green city

One of the appeals of living in nature is the physical connection Promoting interactive architectures and individuated spatial
to green landscapes that is partially or completely obliterated responses
from urban life. A prominent typology of green environmental
design strategies focuses on integrating natural or artificial Norbert Wiener’s invention of the field of cybernetics had the
greenscapes in urban design. This allows for the integration underlying goals of expanding human control over his/her
of two major disciplines of spatial practices: urbanism and environment via interfaces with sophisticated electronics, and
landscape design, or what academic circles have termed of combining man and electronics by thinking of computer
“landscape urbanism” or ecological urbanism.” Aside from technology as a means of extending human capabilities
integrating vegetation in the conventional sites of streetscapes, based on what Wiener defined as the “feedback principle.”
public parks, and botanical gardens, green environmental The feedback principle is when a system changes its course
design strategies can focus on artificial nature. Artificial nature of action and mode of operation in response to the current
belongs to the ongoing research on living walls, bio-walls, context in which it performs, including the desire of the human
green facades, and vertical gardens that integrate natural agent controlling its operation.
systems into building components, particularly thresholds,
that function as suitable sites for urban agriculture, gardening, Following Wiener’s conceptualization of using computer
or artistic intervention, while reducing the overall temperature technology and electronic interfaces to expand human
of the building and making good use of available vertical capabilities, Gordon Pask proposed that architecture itself
surface areas. could become a sophisticated electronic interface. In this
vision, architects might conceive of digitally augmented
Once such natural systems are deployed to vertical spatial solutions as cybernetic systems that accommodate
architectural surfaces, irrigation of the medium in which the idea of interaction in their abilities to extract contextual
the vegetation is grown becomes more efficient, since the information, acknowledging their inhabitants’ desires and
circulating water on a vertical wall is less likely to evaporate needs, and adopting behavioral patterns based on what they
than in horizontal gardens, making such practices more learn, hence soliciting human control over a technologically
ecological for arid areas. Green walls can also enhance the enhanced habitat.

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 13

Cedric Price’s proposal for the Fun Palace was one of the first on crime prevention and reducing the fear of crime, called
incidents of conceptualizing architecture as a cybernetic CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). In
system, incorporating Wiener’s feedback principle as a driving the section that follows, we will provide an extensive overview
force for architectural performance that factors in the extended of CPTED in its first and second generation of theory and
human capabilities to control his or her environment. The praxis. Using all the above-mentioned subcategories of green,
vision of architectures capable of soliciting their inhabitants’ digitally enhanced, environmental design methodologies,
control over the production and consumption of space also we will offer a new vision for a third generation of CPTED
prevailed in Yona Friedman’s 1958 manifesto for Mobile through minimum-impact, sustainable, environmental design
Architecture. He proposed a loose framework within which strategies that use situated, green technologies. The proposed
the buildings would have the capacity to adapt and conform third-generation CPTED is also focused on reducing the fear of
to the lifestyle and behavior of the inhabitants, as well as to crime and enhancing the perception of security for urbanites.
their changing expectations of their living environment. To this
effect, the space became an interface via which the inhabitants To achieve the above-mentioned goal, four different
could realize their desires and regulate their needs. dimensions of crime should be studied and addressed:

Once physical spaces are transformed to context-aware, /1 The law, which is the set of socially agreed-upon criteria
decision-making entities by deploying digital technologies about what is considered a crime; the ramifications of
and computational algorithms, their inhabitants can be committing a crime; the legal possibilities for compensating
incorporated as entities with transient desires, needs and the victims of a crime, both from the governmental institutions
preferences; as hyper-individualized “users” (as the term and the offenders; and finally, the range of responsibilities
is employed in the user-interface and interactive-design and constraints of socio-political institutions and individuals
disciplines) instead of pre-defined, generic “inhabitants.” fighting crime;
Once a digitally enhanced environment or artifact can
be programmed to acknowledge its inhabitants’ input or /2 The offender who commits the crime should be informed
specificities of their behavior, inhabitants are then transformed about the ramifications of his actions, discouraged from
to identifiable users, each deserving specific treatment from acting upon any future criminal intentions, and be confronted
the space they inhabit. A user-subject is a hyper-individualized if he does;
inhabitant as a result of her desires being constantly solicited
by new technologies, and an interactive space respects the /3 The victim of the crime should be protected, taken care of,
specificities of, and offers a customized experience for, each encouraged to take safety measures to prevent being targeted
user. again, and report it if he or she is subjected to a criminal act;

In applying digitally enhanced, green environmental design /4 The location where a criminal action [potentially] takes
solutions, the limitations, constraints and tendency toward place, which should discourage the offender and protect the
standardization in the physical world are overcome through target, while positively impacting the residents’ fear of crime.
the recognition of a variegated public. This allows for the
exploration of the possibility of hyper-customizing the spatial Taking into consideration the above-mentioned four
experience that digitally enhanced architectures and artifacts dimensions of crime and how each of them should be dealt
can offer. Furthermore, architecture that functions as a with, environmental design strategies focus on different
cybernetic mechanism capable of offering an individuated practices. Virtual platforms that can be accessible via different
experience allows for extending the sphere of influence of information delivery portals should provide institutionally
their users. An inhabitant who recognizes that his needs and mediated information about the law to the public. The very
desires are properly incorporated into how his space performs same cyber platforms can also capitalize on a user-generated
feels more at ease in how he uses the space and occupies it. knowledge base and public collaboration in refining the law
This enhances the image of space as desirable, safe, and and the agreed-upon code of conduct by providing cyber
secure. forums and discussion platforms.

Institutionally deployed urban surveillance mechanisms

1.10 would enhance the visibility of urban areas, allowing officials
to keep track of how safe various publicly shared spaces are.
Urban safety and security
Additional cyber infrastructures that encourage the citizens
There is no doubt about the impact of environmental design to participate in reporting crime when they are a victim or
strategies on improving the security of urban areas. In fact, an observer is another possible intervention for those who
a particular class of environmental design practices focuses contemplate the impact of environmental design on crime
prevention in cities. These citizen reporters can be provided

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 14

with an easy-to-use platform for streaming what they consider that allows the users to navigate interactive maps with geo-
a criminal act in real-time from their handheld devices, using tagged reports of crime incidence based on the location,
the wireless service of the city. The information collected from type, and time of crime as search criteria. [Link]
institutionalized surveillance mechanisms and grassroots, [Link] and [Link]
collaborative crime reporting can then be aggregated in are other examples of online platforms that provide similar
centralized data management mechanisms and fed back to services.
the public and law enforcement institutions. This information
will help law enforcement agents to act in real-time, while
providing useful information that makes the dynamic of the
city more transparent so that the public may decide which
zones are potentially dangerous and should be avoided. City
officials should capitalize on the potential of social networking
platforms and their logic of operation to engage in the public
in integrated crime prevention systems so that they actually
engage in reporting information and using the platform that
provides information about crime.

The strategies discussed in previous sections can improve the

living standards of city inhabitants, particularly in low-income
urban areas. Physical and virtual measures of visibility such
as surveillance, good street lighting, and enabling the public
to report crime to a central server or those in their vicinity
will discourage crime and provide some level of security to
those who feel anxious about the risks of urban life. Most
importantly, when the dynamics of urban areas become
visible and transparent through digitally enhanced urban
informatics, and when a particular class of social conflicts
that can result in criminal behavior is mediated via digitally
enhanced constructs; when the publicly shared spaces of
the city are enhanced through design strategies and become
more user-friendly; when the spatial quality and use of leftover
spaces of the city is redesigned and refined; when cities
become mixed-use and more densely developed so that they
are operational 24/7 and never left unoccupied; the mental
image of the city is improved for its citizens, and public zones
transform to possible sites of interaction with other members
of the public instead of dangerous zones of crime and conflict.
Having provided an overview of the general field of practical
and theoretical relevance when it comes to green, sustainable
urban design, the second and third part of this report is
dedicated to a more focused examination of how urban safety
and security can be addressed through green environmental
design.

Notes:

/ 1 Gene Sharp, The Politics of Non-violent Action (Boston: P.

Sargent, c1973).

/2 These platforms have already been deployed in various

cities. For example, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department
provides an online platform called the Crime View Community
([Link]

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/ 15

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

 2
First, second and third-generation CPTED
An introduction to the general field of practice
/ 17

Crime and the fear of crime are endemic concerns in contemporary urbanized societies. Crime
prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is a branch of spatial practices that looks at
interventions focused on place-based strategies for reducing crime, and the enhancement of
spatial cognition as it relates to the perception of safety and security. As mentioned before, the
underlying premise of CPTED is that for any crime, there are four dimensions to be considered:
the law, the offender, the target, and the location.3 Place-based strategies for reducing crime and
the fear of crime focus on the site of crime as it relates to the spatial aspects of the target and
the location that facilitates the criminal activity, and how both of these factors generate fear in
the general populace, discouraging those who perceive themselves as the potential targets of a
crime.

Location is an important dimension of crime because crime is not randomly distributed in

contemporary urbanized areas: there are particular zones in each and every city that are identified
both by the public and the administration as “hot spots” of crime, and therefore unsafe.4 If a
phenomenon has such a prominent locational specificity, it is just common sense to assume that
spatial design has a direct influence on either its enhancement or reduction, and that “the proper
design and effective use of the built environment can lead to a reduction in the fear and incidence
of crime, and an improvement in the quality of life.”5 Such an assumption has led to numerous
studies on the subject since the mid-twentieth century.6

In its first generation, CPTED includes individual components such as territoriality, surveillance,
image/maintenance, access control, activity program support, and target-hardening.7
Territoriality, access control, program support, and target-hardening look at techniques of clearly
defining boundaries and the preferred use of a given space. Surveillance, whether naturally,
mechanically, or digitally administered, makes the offenders visible to others, which implies to
the potential offender that he or she is more at risk of observation and apprehension. Natural
surveillance is a result of clear lines of sight and public inter-visibility, as well as an optimal
relationship between the number of users of a space, its size, and the proper density of a given
zone within an urban area. This means that isolated urban zones that are less populated are more
prone to criminal activity, and such areas are more feared by those who perceive themselves as
potential targets of criminal activity.8 Examples of mechanical surveillance are street lighting and
CCTV. An example of digitally administered surveillance is the grassroots reporting/streaming
of criminal activity by citizens with handheld devices equipped with capturing and connectivity
behavior.

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 18

Furthermore, proper maintenance of a space signifies a demographic profiling, and active community participation to
sense of ownership that is influential in reducing the fear of the pallet of tools that can be utilized by designers.17 If first-
crime. Through proper spatial design, physical features of generation CPTED is focused on location, second-generation
the environment can be arranged to offer a high probability of CPTED is more concerned with situation; that is, the multi-
refuge and escape for the potential target of the crime, and a faceted context of crime and fear that encompasses the
low probability of refuge and escape for the potential offender, locational, the social, the cultural, and the political subtexts of
reducing both risk and fear of crime.9 The first generation the reality and the perception of crime in an urban context. For
of CPTED focuses on reinforcing positive behavior within example, in terms of surveillance, second-generation CPTED is
the physical space through the use of physical attributes focused on techniques that engender positive social activities
to separate public, public-private, and private space. These and diversity to encourage the public to take ownership of
strategies define ownership and acceptable patterns of usage, their space and take advantage of natural surveillance, as
in addition to promoting opportunities for surveillance that opposed to a mere insistence on intensifying the mechanically
facilitate institutional control, and promote legitimate users’ administered methods of surveillance. Second-generation
informal social control.10 CPTED is designed to support social interaction and promote
“eyes on the street” activity, relying on a triad of community
First-generation CPTED insists on the principle of eliminating culture, cohesion, and connectivity.18
any unassigned spaces, ensuring that all spaces have a clearly
defined and designated purpose, and are routinely cared for The second generation of CPTED recognized that the most
and monitored.11 For example, improved lighting in public, open important measure is creating sustainable communities by
spaces has been categorized as being an effective intervention looking at all issues in a holistic way, and especially though
that “works.”12 Related to this approach is promoting design engaging the local people. To this effect, the initial task is
strategies that create more pedestrian-friendly public or semi- to create and enhance a sense of belonging to a greater
public zones within the city. These areas that welcome more community, where a useful definition of community as a
public use are less likely to host criminal activities because concept and a framework for intervention through design
of the natural surveillance resulting from a significant public can be: “The web of personal relationships, groups, networks,
presence within a shared space.13 traditions and patterns of behavior that exist amongst
those who share physical neighborhoods, socio-economic
Although first-generation CPTED has proven effective in conditions of common understanding and interests.”
several cases, there are also various shortcomings. First, (Community Development, 2001) This web can include
“irrational” offenders—those intoxicated by drugs and extended families, networks of neighbors, community groups,
alcohol—are potentially less likely to be deterred by first- religious organizations, local businesses and public services,
generation CPTED strategies. Second, negative socio- youth clubs, parent/teacher associations, playgroups,
economic and demographic dynamics can also reduce the elderly people’s groups, and many more. The driving force
efficacy of CPTED strategies: on one hand, social conditions beyond second-generation CPTED is the fact that these webs
may nurture fear, reduce the inclination to intervene, and coming together in the interest of the community as a whole
result in an individual withdrawing into the home that is is vital to its sustainability. To this effect, second-generation
heavily fortified.14 That is, when CPTED is applied without CPTED supports institutions such as community forums,
sufficient community participation and becomes overly reliant neighborhood management committees, and Development
on target-hardening, mechanical and formal surveillance, Trusts as venues for facilitating a civilized life and enjoying the
access control, and the intensification of a “fortress mentality” benefits of being a part of a lively society.
can result in citizens withdrawing behind walls, fences, and
fortified homes. On the other hand, first-generation CPTED In 1987, the United Nations World Commission under
principles like access control, surveillance, clean lines-of- Gro Harlem Brundtland created the Environmental and
sight, etc., can be used by criminals to create safe zones for Development Report, which provided the guideline for the
their operations.15 Furthermore, the implementation of crime second generation of CPTED to take full advantage of what
prevention measures in one area can “displace” existing crime it defined as resources: social resources (people), economic
in terms of location, time, tactics, targets and type of crime, resources (making best use of them), technological resources,
instead of reducing criminal activity or the fear thereof in (ensuring sustainable development), environmental resources
empirical, absolute terms.16 (making the best use of natural resources), and ecological
resources (protecting and making the best of habitats,
While first-generation CPTED exclusively focuses on space species, and ecosystems).
and location to reduce crime, second-generation CPTED
extends beyond mere physical design to include social By utilizing these resources, second-generation CPTED
factors by adding risk assessments, socio-economic and focused on creating “balanced, mixed-use, walkable

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 19

communities as a new model for urban communities.” To /16 Create neighborhoods that are close to shops, public
this effect, second generation CPTED offered both social and transport, activities, schools, and recreational opportunities
physical planning as possible tools to create communities
that are balanced in terms of age, profile tenure, etc. The main /17 Provide social structures for communities’ socio-political
suggestions for accomplishing this goal were as follows: activism that offer opportunities for citizen participation and
social influence on their own environment
/1 Do not build concentrations of single-tenure social housing
/18 Pay attention to the accessibility of space for people
/2 Bring private ownership into public housing areas with impaired mobility, as well as those who require care and
attention
/3 Build a substantial proportion of affordable housing and
low-energy design in all new developments All of the above are guidelines for creating mixed-use, mixed-
tenure, walkable communities, and have great advantages from
/4 Invest at reasonable levels to ensure quality development a crime-prevention perspective. It is safe to claim that instead
based on specificities of the site of the vision of segregated, fortified, gated communities that
was the subtext of strategies promoted by first-generation
/5 Recognize the relationship between housing and schools, CPTED theory and practice, second-generation CTPED
and the role that schools play in improving educational was focused on bringing diverse social groups together and
opportunities for young people and contributing to social de- providing the socio-political and physical backbone for them
segregation to coexist in a peaceful manner and conform to accepted
behaviors.
/6 Recognize the direct relationship between housing
conditions and health The first generation of CPTED was a collection of strategies to
discourage crime. The second generation of CPTED focused
/7 Introduce “magnet policies” to attract active people on strategies to eliminate the reasons for criminal behavior
with spending power back to socially isolated areas in poor vial sustainable, livable environments. The third generation
condition of CPTED that is subject of investigation and contemplation
in this report adds another dimension to the discourse, which
/8 Develop walkable streets that are pedestrian-friendly and is that of the synergies amongst CPTED, urban sustainability,
promote sociability, community surveillance, and human technology, and the potential of networks.19 The premise of
interaction third-generation CPTED is that a sustainable, green urbanity
is perceived by its members and the outsiders as safe. Third-
/9 In laying out master plans, provide a careful treatment of generation CPTED’s focus on sustainable green environmental
corners and vistas and landmarks to make the urban space design strategies insists on practical measures, physically
more readable to the occupants or cybernetically enhanced, that foster the perception of
urban space as safe beyond mere concerns about crime.
/10 Create mixed-use spaces by incorporating residential, Furthermore, whereas first and second generation CPTED
workspace, shops, studios and performance areas were of a more local nature, third-generation CPTED looks at
security as a global issue and tries to provide a manual that can
/11 Provide living space over shops to contribute to 24/7 be utilized across geo-political and socio-cultural divisions.
activity in the city and enhance the perception of safety and
security
Notes:

/12 Provide optimum density in urban areas and do not leave / 3 P.L. Brantingham, and P.J. Brangtingham, Environmental Criminology (Sage Publications
unmaintained, un-attended, isolated zones : Beverly Hills, CA.).

/ 4 For more information please see:

/13 Focus on energy-efficiency, waste minimization, and the
A.M. Guerry, Essai Sur la Statistique Morale de la France avec Cartes (Crouchard : Paris,
optimum use of resources 1833).
J. Fletcher, “Moral statistics of England and Wales”, Journal of Royal Statistical Society of
London, Vol. 12, No. 3 (1849): 151-81.
/14 Foster community and social welfare
H. Mayhew, London Labour and the Condition of the London Poor (Griffin: Bohn, 1862).
J.L. Nasar and B. Fisher, “‘Hot spots’ of fear and crime: a multi-method investigation”,
/15 Enhance economic prosperity, especially employment Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1993): 187-206.

and education D. Lupton, “Dangerous places and the unpredictable stranger: constructions of fear of
crime”, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, Vol. 32, No. 1 (1999): 1-15.

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

/ 20

/ 5 T. Crowe, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: Applications of Architectural

Design and Space Management Concepts (Butterworth-Heinemann : Oxford, 2000):46.
/ 6 For more information please see:
K. Lynch, The Image of the City (MIT Press: Cambridge, MA., 1960).
J. Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Vintage Books: New York, 1961).

/ 7 For more information please see:

O. Newman, Defensible Space People and Design in the Violent City (Architectural Press :
London, 1973).
R. Moffat, “Crime prevention through environmental design – a management perspective”,
Canadian Journal of Criminology, Vol. 25, No. 4 (1983):19-31.

/ 8 K. Painter and N. Tilley, Surveillance of Public Space: CCTV, Street Lighting and Crime
Prevention (Criminal Justice Press: Monsey, NY., 1999)
On relation of proper level of street activity and density and its preventive impact on crime
and image of crime more information can be found in A. Loukaitou-Sideris “Hot spots of bus
stop crime: the importance of environmental attributes”, Journal of the American Planning
Association, Vol. 65 No. 4 (1999): 395-412.

/ 9 For more information please see: J.L. Nasar and B. Fisher, “‘Hot spots’ of fear and crime:
a multi-method investigation”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1993):
187-206, and, R.B. Taylor and A.V. Harrell, Physical Environment and Crime (National
Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice: Washington, DC, 1996):9.

/ 10 T. Crowe, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: Applications of

Architectural Design and Space Management Concepts (Butterworth-Heinemann : Oxford,
2000):37, also, D. Perkins and R. Taylor, “Ecological assessments of community disorder:
their relationship to fear of crime and theoretical implications”, American Journal of
Community Psychology, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1996): 63-107.

/ 11 J. Ratcliffe, “Suburb Boundaries and Residential Burglars”, Trends and Issues in

Crime and Criminal Justice No. 246, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra (2003)
, also, B. Brown, “New homes/old homes: physical environment and residential psychology
predicting crime”, Proceedings of the International CPTED Conference, 24-27 September,
Brisbane, Australia (2001): 167-177.

/ 12 J. Eck, “Preventing crime at places: why places are important”, Preventing Crime: What
Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising, (National Institute of Justice Research in Brief, US
Department of Justice: Washington, DC., 1997).

/ 13 D. Sorensen “The nature and prevention of residential burglary: a review of the

international literature with an eye towards prevention in Denmark”, available at: www. jur.
[Link]/medarbejdere/davesorensen/Publikationer/[Link]

/ 14 S. Merry, “Defensible space undefended: social factors in crime prevention through

environmental design”, Urban Affairs Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3 (1981): 397 422.

/ 15 R. Atlas, “The other side of defensible space”, Security Management (March,1991): 63-
6.

/ 16 S. Hakim and G.F. Rengert, Crime Spillover (Sage: Beverly Hills, CA., 1981).

/ 17 S. Plaster Carter “Community CPTED”, The Journal of the International Crime

Prevention Through Environmental Design Association, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2002):15-24, and, A.
Zelinkaandand D. Brennan, Safescape: Creating Safer, More Livable Communities through
Planning Design (Planners Press: Chicago, IL., 2001).

/ 18 G. Saville and G. Cleveland “An introduction to 2nd Generation CPTED: Part 1”, CPTED
Perspectives, Vol. 6, No. 2 (2003): 4-8, and, G. Saville and G. Cleveland “An introduction to
2nd Generation CPTED: Part 2”, CPTED Perspectives, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2003): 7-9.

/ 19 P.M. Cozens “Sustainable urban development and crime prevention through

environmental design for the British City. Towards an effective urban environmentalism for
the 21st Century”, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning, Vol. 19, No.
2 (2002): 129-37.

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 3
Third-generation CPTED
Urban-scale green, sustainable and technologically enhanced design strategies for
fostering the perception of safety and security in cities
/ 23

Our proposal for third-generation CPTED is presented as a quartet of places, people, technology,
and networks, as these factors benefit from the principles of green sustainable design laid out in
the previous section dedicated to the index of the general field of practice. This is not to say that
first and second-generation CPTED are guidelines for devising the third generation. Yet, while the
focus of the first generation manifested jn a fortified city mentality, and the second generation
focused on a socio-economically balanced community and a well-maintained city for all [socio-
economic and ethnic groups], the third generation of CPTED is more focused on reprogramming
the urban space through digital means on one hand, and green technologies on the other. Yet, it
also incorporates the principle of surveillance and control from the first generation, and effective
physical design and socio-cultural diversity from the second generation.

For the first contributing factor in the proposed quartet, places, the following guidelines are
proposed to design the physical layer of the city as green and sustainable within the framework
of third-generation CPTED:

/1 Integrating into the fabric of the city a sufficient amount of public spaces to provide appropriate
settings for collective activities and gatherings

/2 Integrating sufficient green spaces at various scales, including street vegetation, vertical
green facades, green roofs, neighborhood and city-scale parks, and public gardens

/3 Fostering new developments that target mixed and balanced communities in terms of income
level, social status, ethnicity, demographics, and tenure

/4 Supporting new developments and revitalization projects that aim to create new spaces, or
re-program existing neighborhoods as mixed-use instead of single-use

/5 Optimizing the urban removal chain in terms of sewage management and garbage collection,
taking into account technologies and cultural practices regarding recycling and grey water
treatment, which can contribute to effective measures in dealing with health-related urban
issues, as well as enhancing the image of the city as well-maintained and cared for

/6 Enhancing natural surveillance by providing sufficient street lighting at night, securing

the required level of occupation and usage at all times, and refinin the fabric of the city via

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/ 24

environmental design interventions that provide clear lines and well-maintained and cared for civic environments create
of sight on the streets and eliminate the isolated corners and a positive image of urban living that contributes to both the
blank spots that host illegal activities urbanites’ standard of living and their image of their city as a
desirable, safe, and secure environment to live and work in.
/7 Ensuring that no place in the city is a terrain-vague; that
is, a place with no institutional supervision. This means When it comes to the second contributing factor in the
that each and every square foot of the urban landscape proposed quartet, people, the following guidelines are
should clearly and properly have a governmental or non- proposed to design the social layer of the city within the green,
governmental patron, a legal entity, or a grassroots collectivity sustainable framework of third-generation CPTED:
of the urbanites themselves responsible for its maintenance,
security, and supervision /1 Providing the proper infrastructure for the individual
to voice his concerns and communicate his needs and
/8 Promoting revitalization and redevelopment projects desires both to institutional agents and other members of
that focus on grey or brown sites—that is, sites previously the urban population. This will create a sense of belonging
accommodating hazardous industries that have devastating to a greater community, and ensures that the individual has
effect on urban lands, or sites that are devastated by natural control over the circumstances of urban living. Additionally,
disasters or violent conflicts, or sites that have been previously these infrastructures will solicit a culture of engagement,
occupied and are currently vacant due to economic or socio- collaboration, and mutual compassion between the members
cultural reasons, such as the relocation of industries or the of urban population
immigration of residents
/2 Providing the proper infrastructure for communicating
/9 Providing sufficient and effective public transportation information about the most current state of the city, its
infrastructure that not only contributes to the well-being of challenges, and the work that is being done to address them;
citizens by reducing the toxic emissions of private commute and about the urbanites’ responsibilities for collaboration
alternatives and single-driver vehicles, but also contributes to and proper conduct. This infrastructure can lay the grounds
reducing traffic, which has a direct impact on the psychological for effective inter-communication of citizens’ and the
well-being of citizens and the time-efficient optimization of governments’ responsibilities to each other, creating a
urban living democratic and transparent social setting for managing urban
life
/10 Allocating sufficient financial resources to the regular
maintenance of civic spaces, including streetscapes and /3 Providing an infrastructure for creating a sense of belonging
urban facades and community in members of the urban population. This
includes fostering community centers, neighborhood
/11 Allocating sufficient financial and human resources to associations, non-governmental organizations, and other
providing public education, particularly for the young urban public entities that help gather individuals around shared goals,
population, both when it comes to quality school buildings and needs, desires, and ideals. In such a setting, each member of
hiring the required experts in education-related disciplines the urban community becomes a sensor-actuator of positive
interventions; an effective analyst, an active reporter, and a
/12 Providing efficient regulations for the construction provider of services within the realm of his expertise
sector in terms of monitoring the structural integrity, energy-
efficiency, and quality of building proposals, both at the stage In a system that integrates green, sustainable environmental
of issuing building permits and at the stage of supervising design, social structures that provide opportunities for people
construction quality to have a voice to communicate their needs, concerns,
desires, and ideas with other members of the public; and
/13 Providing financial support and the macro and micro- provides venues for governmental agents to communicate
economic infrastructure to assist the low-income urban with the public in a direct and less-mediated way, creating
population in home-ownership, which in integration with an environment of mutual trust between citizens and city
large-scale, low-cost, zero-carbon housing projects, and officials. In an environment of mutual trust, each citizen
infrastructures of providing employment and income for perceives himself as an agent responsible for the well-being
prospective buyers, can create a viable economic model for of the greater community. This will solicit more engagement
home-ownership from the public when institutions need to count on their
contribution and collaboration to make things happen. This
In a green, sustainable, environmental-design-integrated also creates a positive image of urban living based on an
system, places that provide safe homes, secure employment, environment that holds citizens responsible for the city’s

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/ 25

effective performance, as well as marking them as the collaborate and contribute to the real-time knowledge of their
beneficiaries of such improvements. city and what is happening in it. This provides an effective
interface between the city and its citizens
As for the third contributing factor in the proposed quartet,
technology, the following guidelines are proposed for designing /6 Augmenting physical structures and the built environment
the technological layer of green, sustainable cities within the with cybernetic capabilities that allow them to sense their
framework of third-generation CPTED: context and become actuated in response to emergent
conditions, and the dynamic needs and desires of their
/1 The integration of green technologies into the current, occupants
somewhat bankrupt urban energy paradigm. Green
technologies of energy production expand the possibility In a system that integrates green, sustainable environmental
of harvesting natural energy and incorporating zero- design, technological structures that transform the city to a
carbon and clean energy, such as nuclear energy, into the context-aware, smart, energy-efficient environment capable of
energy production chain. Meanwhile, green technologies of effectively responding to emergent conditions and functioning
energy consumption aim to change urban living in terms of as an informatics interface between the city‘s citizens and
reducing the carbon footprint and environmental impact of governing institutions not only enhance the performance of
consumption. Buildings that have an optimized design for heat the city, but also foster its image as a democratic, transparent
gain and loss, depending on environmental context, and that environment. A transparent city is a safe and secure city
benefit from the maximum impact of natural ventilation and because no corner is hidden and no fact about it is unknown.
lighting, are possible sites of green interventions. Furthermore, People are afraid of what they cannot see and what they do
energy-efficient mechanisms such as vehicles redesigned to not know. Transparency eliminates the fundamental reasons
incorporate clean energies like electricity, or that augment for fear when it comes to urban living.
fuel-based models of operation with other possibilities, such
as hybrid cars, should be considered in this regard. As for the fourth contributing factor in the proposed quartet,
networks; before providing the index of guidelines, it is worth
/2 Enhancing urban surveillance as green sustainable design mentioning that the network is the glue that holds the quartet
relates to enhancing the image of the city in terms of safety together. This is due to the fact that the network as a concept
and security through the use of cybernetic mechanisms. provides the required structure for other three factors.
Embedded networks of surveillance should be integrated into Physical networks connect places, securing the efficient
the infrastructure of urban settings in a non-intrusive way distribution of human and material resources. Social networks,
to ensure the effective monitoring of civic spaces, while not cyberneticaly mediated or otherwise, provide the required
contributing to the uncomfortable feeling of being watched by structure for creation of a well-integrated collective that
a Big Brother. contributes to sustaining the system. Cybernetic networks,
wired or wireless, provide the connection between sensors
/3 The effective incorporation of urban informatics to decode and actuators situated within the city and the central control-
the complex, multi-dimensional dynamics of the city in real- and-command mechanisms that collect, store, and manage
time, which allows institutions to contemplate the possibility urban-related information. The very same networks also
of an effective and optimized urban management paradigm, provide the portal for delivering real-time information back to
where real-time information about urban dynamics provide the citizens in a very customized, personalized, and immediate
the required level of transparency to anticipate and respond to way, particularly when we focus on wireless services and using
what is just around the corner personal handheld devices for accessing this information on
online platforms. The following guidelines are proposed to
/4 Providing venues to deliver real-time information about design the technological layer of the green, sustainable city
city dynamics to citizens will have a positive impact on their within the framework of third-generation CPTED:
decision-making. Wireless services and interactive, urban
digital screens are possible venues for transforming the city /1 Properly designing and effectively maintaining the physical
to a cradle of real-time information that will help citizens to networks that connect places within the city. This includes
evaluate the specificities of their contexts and the ramifications networks of commute, energy networks, wired networks of
of their personal decisions. This will expand the sphere of the communication, and networks of supply and removal, that is,
citizen’s perception of their environments, empowering them water and swage networks
and assuring them about their security, since every aspect of
their environments is known and visible /2 Providing the wireless networks of information transmission
that cover the whole city to provide access to online services
/5 Providing cybernetically mediated venues for citizens to to everybody, everywhere and at all times. This looks at the

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/ 26

possibility of transforming the urban landscape to what can such as LED lamps that have substantially reduced energy
be characterized as a Wi-Fi city, one in which hotspots where consumption, can be incorporated to this effect. A well-lit city
people can connect to the network and benefit from its becomes a 24/7 city, an always-awake urbanity that does not
services are everywhere leave any dark spot open to criminal activity.

3.2
/3 The cultural and operational integration of online social
networking into the everyday routine of urban living. On one
hand, online social networks are effective in creating a sense Enhancing urban surveillance natually: integrating greenscapes
of belonging to a greater community and fostering a sense into urban streetscapes to create a more pedestrian-friendly
of mutual trust amongst people. On the other hand, such urban fabric
cybernetically mediated memberships can actuate people and
impact their decisions. Furthermore, various scenarios can be CPTED research proves that urban areas that are empty, or do
engendered by the potential of such platforms, particularly in not appear to be well-maintained, generate a sense of anxiety
terms of a culture of sharing resources. For example, targeted in the passers-by, in addition to possibly accommodating
online platforms can provide a proper venue for car-sharing criminal activities. As the streetscape of the city becomes
or ride-sharing. The most immediate scenario that comes more pedestrian-friendly by incorporating greenscapes,
to mind is for knowledge-sharing, such as that practiced in these publicly shared urban zones will be more frequented
models like Wikipedia. by the denizens, enhancing natural urban surveillance.
People feel safe and at ease when they recognize that their
The proposed quartet addresses both the enhancement of the circumstances are observed by others who happen to share
city’s physical layer and also augments it with digital capacities, the well-maintained, green, pedestrian-friendly streetscape
providing the city with a certain performative depth through with them. Aside from conventional modes of integrating
the deployment of cybernetic constructs. The subsections greenscapes into the urban landscape through networks of
that follow consist of an index of interventions. Each small neighborhood parks and street-level vegetation, new
intervention is laid out as it relates to the above-mentioned technologies offer a plethora of possibilities for creating
criteria of places, people, technology, and networks. The vertical gardens and integrating vegetal bio-organisms into
vision that it offers is supported by similar projects developed architectural components, potentially transforming the image
by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and experts at MIT of our cities into well-maintained, green, and pedestrian-
SENSEable City Lab. friendly spaces of habitation.

3.1
3.3
Urban surveillance: the use of harvested energy as a power
Cybernetically enhancing urban surveillance: a thousand Little
source for street lighting
Sisters instead of one Big Brother

The global energy crisis has forced municipalities to cut back

Much research and practice in CPTED has focused on utilizing
on their energy consumption in recent years. One of the areas in
digital surveillance technology as a preventive measure for
which these cutbacks have manifested is street lighting, which
urban crime. This is well manifested in a post-9/11 proliferation
leaves publicly shared spaces dark at night. A comprehensive
of CCTV’s in metropolitan areas like London and New York.
literature review of CPTED proves that sufficient nighttime
Nowadays, surveillance cameras are everywhere, making
street lighting has a positive impact on citizens’ perception of
some concerned about the Orwellian “Big Brother effect.”
safety and security. This is due to the fact that well-lit areas
It generates a certain level of anxiety to think that beyond
contribute to natural surveillance, discouraging the criminals
each of these silent, mysterious, digitally enhanced devices,
who perceive themselves at risk of being observed, while
someone, somewhere is watching all of us: someone with
ensuring the public of their safety by providing a clear view of
whom we are not necessarily comfortable sharing our privacy.
the space that they pass through or linger in. Enhancing the
But instead of one “big brother” filming everybody, what if
network of urban street lighting with natural energy harvesting
we allow individuals to become “little sisters” reporting their
mechanisms to make it self-sufficient in terms of energy
experiences to others in real-time, and in a multi-modal, high-
consumption can be a response to the global energy crisis, re-
resolution format?
enforcing the urban electrification paradigm and its positive
impact on the perception of security.
The proposal for distributed surveillance, or “a thousand little
sisters,” is built upon the fact that in our contemporary cities,
Aside from interventions that focus on harvesting energy
people are now equipped with personal handheld devices—
on-site, another set of design strategies can target energy
smart phones—that are capable of recording their owners’
consumption and its optimization. Novel lighting solutions,

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experiences in multi-modal format and in high-resolution. the user via the input interface of the capturing system. This
These mini-computers are also enhanced with a connectivity creates a sense of belonging to a greater community, as the
capacity that allows them to transmit the captured digital viewer of the real-time, audio-video streams sympathizes with
content via wireless networks of communication that provide the Other, the protagonist from whose viewpoint the story
wider-than-ever bandwidth for data transmission. This project is being narrated. The contextual knowledge of the Other,
can be thought of as a platform for a real-time Discovery including the orientation and location of his gaze, her speed
Channel that extracts action from urban areas and delivers of movement within the space, the level of action captured
them in real-time to the wired world. from one frame of the content to the next, adds another level
of sensation to the experience of being visually teleported to
When we mount a device that digitizes personal memories a landscape. Furthermore, since the proposed system uses
and broadcasts them to distant recipients in real-time, the broadband wireless communication networks such as 3G
result is a subjective cinematic gaze that records and shares and Beyond for data transmission, the previously mentioned
the personal account of an experience. Then everybody viewpoint does not have to be a fixed one. Rather, the shared
becomes like the protagonist of the movie Man with a Movie experience can be from the point of view of an entity on the
Camera (1929) by Dziga Vertov, making an experimental film move.
that presents his experience anytime and anywhere. The
result is a real-time, experimental documentary, and to the > Figure 1: Illustration of the high-level concept for GEOBlog. The
extent that it could be said to have characters, they would illustration shows how digital information about a specific incident
be the camera[wo]man of the title and the space, scenery, or on campus is retrieved once the user tries to establish a connection
with the system using a Nokia N800 at the location where the
spectacle she presents, whether that is the urban spectacular,
incident occurs. The incident referred to in this visualization is
an anxiety-driven situation, or a possible scene of criminal a historically famous prank where students placed a fire truck
activity. This offers us a technologically enhanced platform for on MIT’s great dome, covering the Building 10 entrance lobby.
“sousveillance” as opposed to “surveillance.” As Steve Mann
explains in his description of the phenomenon, a system of
surveillance (literally: watching [veiller] from above [sur]),
scrutinizes subjects to see which are the first to “step out of
line.” Instead, in a “sousveillance” system, users are equipped
with small, portable recording/transmitting devices, and will
be able to enact the scenario of watching (veiller) from below
(sous), “which can include personal experience capturing
or [the] recording of an event by a participant in the event[,]
or [one] who is just a passer-by or [a] silent observ[er],” and
sharing it with others.20

The user of this platform transforms to a human camera

and a networked cyborg entity in a sousveillance state, à la
Mann.21 According to Mann, this state will allow the subject
to subvert his relationship to the outside world in terms of
the power dynamic implicit in the idea of observing and being
observed. Instead of being subjected to the “watchful vigilance
from above,” he becomes a part of a collaborative observance
from below. This subversion of power allows the subject to be
“filming as opposed to being filmed, shooting as opposed to
getting shot.” The subject augmented by such a technological
platform, in becoming a member of a multitude, finds strength
in numbers as “a part in a collective human intelligence.”22

Furthermore, the technologically enhanced experience is
alluring, since there is a certain appeal in seeing the world
through the eyes of the Other. It is not only possible to 3.3.1
temporally and spatially situate the reporting subject within the CASE STUDY - GEOBlog: community-based digital storytelling
physical space by tagging the frame with information from the (SENSEable City Lab)
embedded sensors, but also based on contextual information,
such as semantic and descriptive information provided by MIT’s GEOBlog is a platform for digitally annotating space for

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the purpose of collective, community-based, digital storytelling.

> Figure 3: Interface strategies for delivering media content: an
This Web-based platform allows people to annotate its virtual interactive 2D map viewed in a perspectival fashion, where the
space through geo-tagging and sharing user-generated location and orientation associated with video content are also
content, or in other words, placing digital content over spatial delivered to the viewing party. SENSEable City Lab ©, Nashid
zones so that it can be retrieved by others based on the system
sensing and locating it in real-time and in physical space. The
platform has been implemented on the MIT campus, and
builds on previous research projects at SENSEable City Lab
that focused on providing the campus with location-based
services. GEOBlog allows users to explore the campus as a
spatial, collaborative blog that is open to personal stories, self-
expression, and shared memories, showcasing the institute’s
unique and pervasive system of wireless technologies and
its invaluable culture of collaboration, communication,
companionship, and compassion.

In the context of green, sustainable environmental design

that enhances safety and security, if a city-wide platform
for collaborative, location-based, digital storytelling is
implemented and made accessible for contributing or
retrieving digital content via personal handheld devices, this
will generate a sense of community that can help to enhance
the image of the city as a safe and desirable environment.
This type of platform would also allow for self-expression and
making connections with other members of the community.

3.3.2
CASE STUDY - Mounted Mobile Camera Casts: a platform for
citizen-reporters (SENSEable City Lab)

Mobile Mounted Camera Casts is a platform for conveniently

conveying the sensations attached to experiencing the speed wireless connectivity. The multiple, mobile, real-time
landscape of a city. The platform allows for a real-time casts will be available on a Web interface or broadcasted
streaming of the experience of the city via handheld devices channel where the location/orientation of each mobile agent
equipped with sensing, audio-video capturing, and high- is visible on a navigable interactive map, along with other
contextual information that allows users to be able to locate
the point of view they’re seeing in real-time. Through pixel
> Figure 2: Concept illustration for the Mobile Mounted Camera Cast
manipulation and action detection algorithms, the system will
project: What if instead of one Big Brother filming everybody, we
allow everybody to become a Little Sister…a concept illustration compare action—or changes in what is being captured—in the
inspired by Steve Mann’s elaboration on surveillance. SENSEable broadcasted frames by comparing the content of each frame
City Lab ©, Nashid Nabian © with the previous ones, and attaching contextual information
that favors the frame indicating the most visual action over the
frames where no action is detected. By providing a platform
for individuals to share their tempo-spatial experiences with
others in real-time and across distance, passive inhabitants of
spatial settings will transform into active, self-reporting agents
who comprise a dynamic public sphere.

The project is composed of the apparatus and the backbone

system that allows the users to share their audio/visual
field in real-time with others, broadcasting via a 3G wireless
cellular network while each frame is automatically annotated
with location, and temporal and contextual meta-data. No
matter how much more sophisticated audio/visual capturing

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technology becomes, or how much faster our wireless Although the cyber version of the public sphere is not
connections are in the near future, the experience offered a substitute for physical public spaces, its aspects
by the platform will have a certain appeal: enabling users to of discursive/semantic interactivity, peer-to-peer
experience the world through the eyes of the other in real-time; interconnectivity, and real-time inter-subjectivity can be
and enabling the users to become self-reporting agents—a considered an ideal model. As a result, the idea of digitally
thousand little sisters. This digitally enhanced spatial augmenting physical public spaces seems obvious.
phenomenon also functions as a medium through which Our hypothesis is that through blurring the borderline
subjects within the space communicate amongst themselves, between the virtual/digital and actual/physical modes
transforming them from observers of the technological of social representation, and through augmenting the
spectacle to active participants of spatial scenarios in a physical with the digital in urban settings, the public
networked condition. space canbecome a catalyst for direct human-to-human
interaction, which would result in the rediscovery of the
In the context of green, sustainable environmental design public sphere and new modes of democracy, promoting
strategies that reduce the fear of crime, this project is an the image of a secure urbanity.
example of the “thousand little sisters” discussed at length in
the previous section dedicated to that project proposal. In the conception of this premise, we are inspired
by practices happening outside of architecture in

3.4
the field of locative media and interactive, media-art
installations, as well as new, radical activist practices
Enhancing a citizen’s sense of belonging: interfaces for like sticker movements and flash mobs; or even not so
accessing real-time information, conflict mediation and new civic movements like street graffiti. For example, the
productive discussion digital version of graffiti that can be delivered on digital
screens embedded and situated within public spaces
This proposal examines how civic zones of the city can is ephemeral and does not fall under the category of
be transformed into responsive environments through vandalism, yet still offers a public, civil platform for self-
technological mediation. This would change the passive expression and social engagement. Most of these projects
inhabitants of the city to active participants of spatial scenarios, promote “fearless contact with strangers, playfully
and the public spaces from fear zones one passes through supporting relaxed encounters and sensitive interaction
to urban destinations containing perpetual eventfulness, using appropriate ways of communication,” without
which enable the city’s inhabitants to engage in fleeting civic compromising the participants’ privacy and violating
encounters.23 Making publicly shared spaces interactive can their zones of intimacy.24 Furthermore, overlaying the
also introduce a new notion of spatial democracy and socio- physical space with a digital layer brings the potential of
spatial transparency, thus enhancing the public sphere, as Internet discussion platforms into the urban space.25 The
well as the image of the city as a secure environment. result would be a public of participating agents actively
engaged in the process of recognizing each other as
Currently, a major trend in designing for social interaction in members of the same civil collective, and developing
publicly shared spaces is taking place in the field of locative a social conscience around digitally-enhanced, shared
media: digital content is geo-tagged and physically placed at memories hosted within an actual physical setting.
different localities in the space. The content can be provided
by a particular source, or it can be created collaboratively. The This melting of the boundary between the reality and
way that individuals experience this hybrid space populated virtuality of our civic activities will irritate some by making
by geo-tagged content depends on how each navigates the invisible electronic phenomena unavoidable, inviting
space corporeally. Subjects retrieve multi-media content information-overload or a violation of privacy.26 Yet to our
using handheld or worn devices. Social interaction happens mind, the field is worth studying in a more focused and
under the condition that a mediating system is aware of the scholarly fashion, since the result of implementing this
engaged parties’ locations, patterns of movement, and who technology would be the activation of a conscious sort
or what is in their vicinity at any given time. Once a publicly of civic participation and the creation of new forms of
shared space is digitally augmented so that it functions as a public spheres in our urban spaces. In this view the public
mediator, it becomes a spatial setting full of the potential for space is an open (art)work, dependent on the people’s
inter-subjection and collaboration, creating a vibrant public intervention and utilization of their creative potential for
sphere. The very existence of this public sphere depends animating and co-designing shared urban settings. In the
upon a physical space corporeally co-habited by those who end, the new modality of a participation-based society
participate in the process of generating a discursive, inter- would generate a feeling of involvement missing in our
subjective realm. contemporary modes of civic cohabitation.

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In these circumstances, the goal of a designer is to come attached to locations, or providing participatory feedback in
up with ideas for making a city a more desirable place. A the form of rating any entity in the city?
desirable city offers a platform for reinforcing identity through
communicative acts, a sense of belonging to a greater entity, In the concept of the public sphere as an embodied info-sphere,
and the creation of culture, the latter through continuous the mediating factor becomes technology itself. Technological
collaboration. Individuals need to be constantly acknowledged mediation happens via two types of technological objects and
by fellow humans through what we call the simple act of making structures. The first type of object is a personal computing
a difference. The more advanced the human race becomes, unit like a mobile phone, while the second type consists of
the more the members of this race seek opportunities to make publicly owned and shared artifacts such as public digital
their individual imprints on, and contributions to, society. displays and touch screens. In terms of structures, some
scenarios for the digital augmentation of architectural spaces
Take the concept of democracy for an example: democracy require the existence of an already-operational infrastructure.
for us is the opportunity for each individual to make this In the example of locative media, an infrastructure for location
type of personal and political difference. In the conventional sensing is a prerequisite, and if the scenario is envisioned
relationship between the city and its denizens, this opportunity as transpiring outdoors, GPS locationing is a given. Indoors,
is provided through political acts like voting for city officials or a meshed network of presence-sensing probes or a Wi-Fi
governmental agents that can affect different aspects of city network should already be in full operation to host spatial
life. But the city itself is made of solid material, and it is hard for scenarios based on location and context sensitivity. In other
an individual to make a difference within the fixity of the built cases a massive operational infrastructure is not necessary, as
forms that give shape to the overall entity. However, digital the second type of technological structure supporting these
technologies are adding a new, ephemeral dimension that is scenarios is the peer-to-peer communication of handheld
open to modification and change initiated by the individuals devices via Bluetooth, or ad hoc networks created via short-
who inhabit it. range radio connectivity.

Collaboration on defining and redefining the ephemeral To democratize a technologically implemented public sphere,
dimension of the city can be viewed as one way of making it the designer should keep in mind that the goal is to make
more engaging, and making its citizens more invested in it. A the integration of the user-participant-inhabitants as easy as
city that is open to individual modifications enables subjects possible. This means limiting the technological requirements
to imprint intentional traces of themselves upon it. This way, and privileging peer-to-peer instead of large-scale
everybody becomes a graffiti artist and the city itself becomes infrastructures. For example, if users interface with the digitally
a limitless canvas, resulting in a constant feed of grassroots augmented space through a mobile application, designing the
eventfulness, subjectivity, and inter-subjectivity. We think application exclusively for smart phones will limit the range
this is the idea of Web 0.2. Whereas the previous version of of individuals that can integrate into the system, whereas
the Web was used to find information and different services, providing a platform on SMS (instant messaging) will broaden
Web 0.2 focuses on the collaborative generation of cultural the range of participants. In these ultra-accessible, peer-to-
capital through API’s, blogs, Mashups, wikis, and other forms peer networks, every member has the same position as the
of soliciting user engagement. Now non-programmers can others. Such a model revolutionizes inter-subjective relations,
get involved and make a difference. In the digitally augmented transforming the digitally augmented space to a public zone
City 0.2, the inhabitants are not the passive recipients of the capable of accommodating the discursive inter-relationships.
landscape, but can get involved in the expansion, arrangement, The non-places of modernity, the anxiety-driven public
and rearrangement of its digital layer, reclaiming the city as spaces of our contemporary cities, become fully capable of
part of their identities. acknowledging the conscious input or implicit requests of the
user-participant-inhabitants that actively create moments
Let’s leave these thoughts and go to another aspect of this idea and situations.
of the city as the platform of self-expression. Self-expression
needs a medium through which the agents interface with As a conclusion to this proposal, the new contexts provided by
the platform. Cell phones are great prosthetic extensions of the new media culture and technological achievements make
their owners that can be used as input devices for this type it possible to implement a new genealogy of public spaces that
of interface. What if one could use his cell phone as a remote are hyper-modern interactive fields for non-representative,
control to change the arrangement or characteristics of the discursive forms of democracy and civic life that promote
augmented, digital layer of the city; i.e., changing projected fearless contact with strangers. Lastly, the augmented space
building facades, interacting with distributed user interfaces will encourage conscious participation in the reconfiguration
(screens), changing the configuration of the city’s kinetic of the public space through depicting urban spaces as open,
elements, leaving generated and shared content placed on or collective (art)works dependent on the people’s continual

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contributions and collaboration. architecturally embedded screen for delivering information

materialized as droplets of water.
3.4.1
CASE STUDY - The Digital Water Pavilion: interactive public The project explores the potential of interactive responsive
architecture (SENSEable City Lab) architectures to transform public spaces to fields of
interaction, play, and eventfulness. The interactive ephemeral
The Digital Water Pavilion is a singular and innovative project facade consisting of a dynamic water screen engages
of Milla Digital, implemented by Expoagua Zaragoza 2008 passers-by, who try to play hide and seek with the wall. The
on behalf of the city of Zaragoza in Spain. Located in the public space transforms to the landscape of playfulness and
connection node of the Milla Digital Expo site, this Pavilion of fearless encounters with complete strangers who happen to
minimalist expression and small dimensions is simultaneously share the same enthusiasm for its technology and dynamic
a sophisticated machine of high mechanical precision, a performance. At the same time, the interactive facade can
building appearing and disappearing thanks to a 12 hydraulic function as a portal of information that delivers digital content
pistons system; and a place where spaces are flexible, changing, materialized as droplets. The Digital Water Pavilion fits quite
and responsive due to the action of 120 meters of water walls well with the viewpoint discussed at length in the previous
digitally controlled by almost 3,000 electromagnetic valves. section dedicated to the project proposal, in that it is both a
The digital water curtain has the potential of functioning as an spatial device for social mediation within the public space, and
an interface for delivery of real-time information. Both aspects
> Figure 4: Photographs of the interactive water wall, animated tie the project to the idea of enhancing the image of the city
and digitally controlled by almost 3.000 electromagnetic valves.
as a safe and desirable place by mediating and easing social
SENSEable City Lab ©
interaction in public spaces.

3.4.2
CASE STUDY - The Cloud: interactive public architecture
(SENSEable City Lab)

The Cloud provides fuses two resources: energy and data–

harvesting from both the natural ecosystem and humanity’s
complementary cybersphere. Rainwater trickling over its
surfaces and displays is collected and redistributed. Wind
energy, amplified at elevation, is harnessed. Photovoltaic
inflatables at the fringes can be unreeled during the day and
docked at night, or in high winds. Furthermore, in the Cloud
display system, the patterns of its animated, spherical skins
offer a civic-scale interface for the delivery of real-time
information to the inhabitants and visitors of the city. The
Cloud transforms a city’s architectural icon to a display of
ecological practices on one hand, and a large-scale platform
for delivering real-time information on the other hand. This
enhances the image of the city according to the discussion
in the section above, transforming it into an interface for
human interaction, and allowing citizens to develop a sense of
belonging by influencing the built space through digital means.

3.4.3
CASE STUDY - Eyestop: urban furniture as a portal of digital
information (SENSEable City Lab)

EyeStop is an exploration of the next generation of smart urban

furniture; it aims to enrich the city with state-of-the-art sensing
technologies, interactive services, community information,
and entertainment. The project is partially covered with touch
sensitive e-INK and screens so that it can deliver information
seamlessly. Interactive, smart, urban furniture enhances how

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urbanites interface with the city and how they conduct their
day-to-day activities. If each and every physical component
within the urban setting is endowed with capability to detect
user-input and infer contextual information to solicit needs
and desires, this extends people’s sphere of influence, which
has a direct impact on how user-friendly citizens perceive their
city to be. As discussed before, the more user-friendly a city
becomes, the more its image as safe and secure, convenient
and desirable is enhanced. > Figure 6: Rendered views of a possible implementation of EyeStop as
a digitally enhanced bus shelter with interactive touch screens and
E-ink digital displays. SENSEable City Lab ©

> Figure 7: Rendered view of a possible implementation of EyeStop as

> Figure 5: Rendered view illustrating how information in graphic an information pole with interactive touch screens and E-ink digital
format can be projected on to the surface of the Cloud. SENSEable displays. SENSEable City Lab ©
City Lab ©

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3.4.4
CASE STUDY - Flyfire: a new interface for delivering 3.5
information (SENSEable City Lab) Clarifying the dynamics of the city in real-time: enhancing
the image of a city as transparent, well-maintained, safe and
Flyfire explores how display technologies can actuate the secure
space of the city. It uses a large number of self-organizing
micro-helicopters that contain small LED’s and act as smart This proposal looks at the possibility of sensing the dynamics
pixels. The helicopters are controlled to create synchronized of the city in real-time, and making this information available to
motions and form elastic display surfaces. This allows any both citizens and institutional parties. How can we sense a city
ordinary space to transform into a highly immersive and and its dynamics? One approach is to utilise existing systems
interactive display environment. The proposed mechanism that have been developed for other reasons, but can function
explores the possibility of a free-form spatial display that as a source of information on how our cities operate. We define
consists of a swarm of pixels that self-organize in real-time to this as viral sensing. The premise of such sensing practices is
adapt to the requirements of any given scenario. that the contemporary subject voluntarily and involuntarily
leaves digital traces on various networks that are juxtaposed
over urban areas. Once the datasets storing these digital
footprints are spatially and temporally attached to entities and
phenomena in the physical terrain, the urban landscapes that
accommodate these traces are transformed to infoscapes. An
infoscape, in this sense, is a digital terrain both temporally and
spatially associated with the physical terrain.

Aside from tapping into existing networks, customized

sensor networks can also be implemented to decode
various flows within the cities. If a collectivity of sensors
capable of communicating with a centrally managed server
are embedded and distributed within a spatial context, the
prospect of distributed sensing manifests as one aspect
of a completely networked world, or an Internet of Things.
Sensor networks employ a top-down architecture where all
the sensors report information from the environment to a
central database, from where this information is aggregated,
managed, and stored. Instead of such top-down approaches,
we should also consider more grassroots, bottom-up systems
for sensing the dynamics of cities. One possibility is thinking
of each urbanite as a human sensor, an agent for sensing and
reporting on his or her individual experience through tapping
into data generated by user-contributed content on shared
platforms. Hence, we arrive at the third possibility of urban
sensing: crowdsourcing.

User-generated content-sharing platforms allow everybody

to report his or her experience to others in real-time, and in
a multi-modal, high-resolution format. These platforms are
> Figure 8: Rendered views illustrating how Flyfire technology can be
repositories of what people “sense” in the city, creating a
deployed for displaying raster information as two-dimensional, re-
created graphics, and vector information as three-dimensional re- digital world that mirrors the physical one. The crowd using
created volumetric compositions. SENSEable City Lab © such platforms therefore becomes a distributed network of
sensors that allow us to understand the dynamic patterns of
the city and the experiences of its citizens. Incorporating digital
technologies into the process of deciphering urban dynamics
allows for a real-time analysis that can improve urban security.

Parallel to mechanisms of sensing, mechanisms of actuating

are integral to cities that are cybernetic systems. In terms of

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spatial actuation and regulation, we can speculate on two sets to them about its internal dynamics, will be more responsive to
of possibilities. The first is regulating the landscape through concerns about adaptability, efficiency, and optimal operation.
actuator agents embedded within the space and controlled via Therefore, although augmented cities respond to concerns
algorithms that are conditioned by the information received about function, structural durability, and aesthetic desirability,
from various sensing mechanisms. This vision opens up a the focus of designing this type of space will inevitably shift to
multiplicity of possibilities for the design and implementation the issue of performance. After all, any space capable of self-
of responsive environments and interactive spaces by adapting to new conditions is not there to merely endure, but
integrating digital technologies into the design of buildings to “perform” with efficiency. In the end, digitally augmented
and artifacts. cities are performative cities. We end our consideration of this
project proposal with the terms “user-participant-inhabitants”
An infrastructure of flexible and on-demand actuators can or “sensor-actuator citizens” to refer to the people who are its
make our daily interaction with urban spaces more efficient, citizens, and who, we imagine, will be ultimately responsible
productive, and customizable, enhancing the sense of for the cybernetic organism they inhabit.
control that individual citizens feel over their life in the city.
The situated network of actuators provides newer tools for 3.5.1
incorporating electronics and computers to mark territory, CASE STUDY - Borderline: Mapping UK regions (SENSEable
and can be bundled into perimeter fencing systems and City Lab)
transparent territoriality. These could function like “smart”
fences that detect motion, vibration, and pressure, and that Borderline, a project by MIT SENSEable City Lab, is an example
transmit information to central monitoring stations. RFID of the project proposal discussed in this section. Borderline is
systems can be applied in an active and passive mode to an attempt to redraw the map of Great Britain from a network of
presence and access control.27 Other, newer access control human interactions, inferred from a large telecommunications
devices that can be incorporated into the city-wide network of database in Great Britain. It examines the exactitude of socio-
actuators include biometric systems that recognizes unique political boundaries defined by governments in respect to the
physical characteristics like hand geometries, iris patterns, natural ways that people interact across space. Incorporating
voices, faces, fingertips, and blood vein patterns. the data extracted from the telecommunication network, given
a geographical area and some measure of the strength of links
Yet, manipulating space through embedded actuators is not between its inhabitants, the area can be partitioned through
the only possible means of spatially regulating cybernetic computational algorithms into smaller, non-overlapping
urban systems. The inhabitants of the cities themselves can regions while minimizing the disruption to each person’s links,
be considered possible agents of regulation and actuation. If potentially creating a new type of spatial analysis that more
the city is envisioned as the provider of real-time access to closely reflects patterns of human interaction.
information for a body that corporeally inhabits it, spatial design
does not limit itself to the allocation of material resources, The process began by looking at the human network as
but takes into account the temporal allocation of information a topological entity with no geographical constraints,
relevant to the specific location or context of those occupants. but uncovered clear regions in space that respect spatial
The real-time and geographically situated information about adjacency. Apparently, the telecommunication links between
the city and its dynamics can be fed back to the residents to individuals—and the interpersonal transactions that they
help them make well-informed decisions. An example of this capture—are so intertwined with geographical space that
approach is the real-time, context-sensitive service offered by partitioning at a network-topological level produces a very
cellular networks that assesses crowd density based on cell accurate partitioning of geographic space. The interesting
phone usage in an area, which delivers this information to city point is that the core map based on human interactions seems
residents who wish to identify popular “hot spots.” In such to capture the reality of relationships between the members of
scenarios, not the space but the inhabitants of the space are the population more accurately than the official subdivisions
actuated, and the efficient regulation of spatial dynamics is of space.
based on their decisions.
Borderline is an example of how viral sensing can unveil
The most promising characteristic of this integrated proposal hidden aspects of spatial dynamics by analyzing the data sets
for urban sensing and actuation is that it is made “smart” that are the byproducts of telecommunication network usage.
by the collaborative activity of its citizens. The citizens have This type of analysis allows for drawing connections between
the potential to function as sentient, self-reporting agents, how people interact and how they establish their socio-
contributing to monitoring the city as a cybernetic organism. cultural networks across the spaces of urbanity. At the scale of
A city whose inhabitants become sensors, and which is a city, as well as a geographic region or a country, every phone
actuated by the results of the real-time information provided call builds a connection between two places. Aggregating all

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phone calls for an entire city reveals the connections amongst its citizens. Such disruption or displacement can agitate the
all places within that city. This “human network” can be perception of security. On the other hand, if official divisions
utilized as a basis for how boundaries are drawn to minimize are laid out according to the reality of the geographical
disruptions to people’s connections. Once the reality of distribution of social networks, this can enhance the sense of
human connections are unveiled and compared to the existing community, and for that matter the perception of safety and
boundaries, new spatial pockets and neighborhoods appear security.
and others are redrawn, reflecting the more natural ways that
people interact. The importance of this project in the context All of the above analysis is based on the pattern of landline
of green, sustainable environmental design and its impact calls, but the analytical method used in the Borderline project
on urbanites’ perception of security is that most of the time could easily be used on other networks in the future: data
how the space of the city is divided means that cohabitants from mobile phones could be an indicator of more personal
of the same spatial pockets establish a sense of community (as opposed to household and business-oriented) human
and belonging with their neighbors. It happens that at times interaction, while databases from credit card companies could
the official divisions do not correspond to the reality of how highlight commercial links between individuals. One could
the inhabitants are divided into smaller communities; that is, even imagine applying a similar analysis to the movement
the spatial divisions of the city interrupt the social network of

> Figure 9: The geography of talk in Great Britain. This figure shows > Figure 10: The core regions of Britain. By combining the output
the strongest 80% of links, as measured by total talk time, between from several modularity optimization methods we obtain the results
areas within Britain. The opacity of each link is proportional to the shown in this figure. The thick black boundary lines show the official
total call time between two areas, and the different colors represent Government Office Regions partitioning, together with Scotland and
regions identified using network modularity optimization analysis. Wales. The black background spots show Britain’s towns and cities,
SENSEable City Lab © some of which are highlighted with a label. SENSEable City Lab ©

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that would minimize their disturbance. All together, these planners to make well-informed, high-level decisions about
approaches could lead to more optimal urban spatial divisions how a given constructed landscape is managed by analyzing
that allow for the least amount of disruption to various human the acquired data. Therefore, a multiplicity of questions about
activities, enhancing the sense of belonging to a more close- the dynamics of the urban removal chain can be addressed
knit community. empirically: is our removal chain efficient? Is hazardous waste
managed properly, or are there loopholes in our system that
3.5.2 need to be taken care of? Is the recycled waste really recycled,
CASE STUDY - Trash Track: implementing custom sensor or does it end up in dumps? The Trash Track system can have a
networks for urban surveillance (SENSEable City Lab) great impact on the nature of the perceptual relationship that
a city or region develops with their waste.
As previously discussed at length, a core principle of CPTED
is that of transparency, or increased visibility within a Generally, people assume that once they dispose of waste it
space through the application of different technologies of is no longer their responsibility. Offering a real-time view of
surveillance. In third-generation CPTED, digital surveillance how the disposed items travel through the landscape of their
can be pushed to a new level of efficiency and effectiveness daily lives will perceptually expand each citizen’s sphere of
by implementing distributed sensor networks that allow for responsibility from the domestic space to the space of the city.
tagging and tracking entities within the city, both material Perhaps such real-time urbanity will lead to a more responsible
resources and humans. The Trash Track project is an example urbanity. Yet, Trash Track is but one possible scenario in a
of this “tag and track” principle. The project consists of digitally more comprehensive concept of a world populated with
enhanced tags that can be attached to objects and report their Smart Objects that enhance the visibility of the urban space
location to an Internet backbone infrastructure via the cellular and its dynamics. Given the right technological platform, the
network. Trash Track makes use of these location-reporting only limits are those in our imaginations. A city that reveals
tags to track urban disposal and study the efficiency of the all its hidden dynamics enhances its citizens’ perception of
urban waste-removal chain. The platform allows designers and safety and security since nothing is hidden about it. At the
same time, depending on what is tagged and tracked and its
pattern of movement the inhabitants of the city will establish
a one-on-one relationship with the object through real-time
access to its current location, enhancing a sense of ownership
and belonging to the city that they live in and the artifacts
contained within it.

> Figure 11: The custom-designed electronic tag for the Trash Track
Project. SENSEable City Lab ©

> Figure 12: Diagram illustrating how the Trash Track tag periodically
measures its location and reports that data to the server via the
cellular network. SENSEable City Lab ©

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> Figure 13: Sample visualization from the

Trash Track project tracking a tagged
aluminum can as it travels through
the city’s garbage collection network.
SENSEable City Lab ©

> Figure 14: Sample visualization from the

Trash Track project tracking a tagged
plastic container of liquid soap as it travels
through the city’s garbage collection
network. SENSEable City Lab ©

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patterns of each individual, and determining boundaries

3.5.3 To achieve this, LIVE Singapore! consists of an open platform
CASE STUDY - Live Singapore! (SENSEable City Lab) for the collection, combination, fusion, and distribution of
real-time data that originate from a large number of different
Live Singapore! is an open platform for the collection, sources. This platform is not aimed at one single application,
synthesis, and distribution of real-time data that reflect but rather resembles an ecosystem and a toolbox for data
urban activity. Giving people visual and tangible access to that describe urban dynamics. Building on this platform, a
real-time information about their city allows them to make community of developers can establish multiple applications
their decisions more in sync with what is actually happening that harnesses the creative potential of citizens who extract
around them. In most cases, people moving within a city base new value from real-time data. The relevance of this project in
their decisions on information that is static and does not the context of a green, sustainable environmental design and
reflect actual urban dynamics. However, companies and local its impact on enhancing the image of the city, is that it makes
authorities are increasingly managing their networks in real- the real-time spatial dynamics of the city visible to its citizens.
time, always aware of the current state of the system. Yet this Transparency in how the city operates, if democratized and
generated data is kept segregated, and while useful for each made available, does not just allow the citizens to make well-
individual network’s operation, it potentially contains much informed decisions. More importantly, it is in line with one of
more value when put to creative use in new scenarios that the core principals of CPTED, which is that of visibility. More
combine data from different sources and make it accessible to visibility enhances the citizen’s perception of having control
the public. LIVE Singapore! closes the feedback loop between over and enough knowledge about his environment, which in
people moving through the city and the digital, real-time data turn enhances the image of the city as an efficient operation,
collected in multiple networks, giving the data back to the which contributes to the citizen’s overall sense of security.
people who themselves generate it through their actions.

> Figure 15: Concept visualization for the Live Singapore! project that illustrates its core components. In developing LIVE Singapore!, the project
addresses research related to the following areas:
1. Developing an urban, real-time data platform that allows collecting, processing, and distributing real-time data that originates in the city.
This project explores solutions that can cater to a large number of streams of very different kinds of data, emphasizing the possibility of
creatively combining multiple streams in the subsequent design of applications built on the platform. As many users will be using this system
simultaneously, key aspects will comprise building a scalable and distributed infrastructure to smoothly distribute loads between platform and
application providers without affecting the overall performance of the system.
2. Developing flexible and accessible API aimed at enabling a data query mechanism that allows users with little programming experience
to easily tap the data pool brought together on the platform. In the context of the real-time data platform, a critical aspect concerns ways of
efficiently finding and using these streams in a meaningful way. Users don’t just search for static data, but real-time information that can change
quickly: “where is the nearest store with my favorite product?” or “where are the most crowded bars?” The project leverages recent findings in
semantic Web technologies to annotate places, data, and devices so that they can be processed automatically.
3. Developing interface and interaction models for a real-time data platform that explores possibilities beyond the two-dimensional views that
have long been the most common way of representing and interacting with geo-referenced datasets. As Singapore is a vertical city, we explore
how to structure real-time data streams using three- dimensional models, and how to visually access this information efficiently.
4. Developing visualization tools for urban data that help extrapolate meaning from the vastness of data produced by a city. In particular,
emphasis is placed on developing a framework that allows designers to easily integrate, filter, and recombine data streams and display the
results in forms such as maps, plots, etc. SENSEable City Lab ©

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This is the same mentality that governs online social

networking platforms. Yet, novel digital and telecommunication
technologies can be deployed to integrate data-sharing
platforms within the spatial dynamics of the city. This allows
us to share information about our choices with others and
gives us access to information on how others make choices.
The dynamics of sensing and sharing data plays into a certain
collective awareness where citizens make sure that others
are aware of what they do because they know that what they
do is going to impact others. At the same time, they want to
know what others do and how the city thrives as a whole,
because it is going to have an impact on how they live in and
enjoy their city. The system should provide incentives for

3.6 people to actively modify their behavior, and check the results
by retrieving real-time information about the effects of their
Capitalizing on the potential of online social networks to create
decisions. This would allow them to modify their behavior
a sense of belonging, to foster a culture of collaboration, and
again based on perceiving the one-on-one relation between
to transform the “me-mentality” of individual urbanites to
their individual choices and how the collectivity of individuals’
the”us-mentality” of members of an urban, digitally enhanced
choices have global impacts.
multitude
Additionally, intensive research is required to address
Once the existing physical infrastructure of the city is
questions about how much one’s behavior changes once
augmented with a digital counterpart through the deployment
there is a way to communicate its influence on the overall
of various situated technologies, the design should not
dynamics of the city. How does the community operate
focus on producing physical space in terms of expanding or
and what mechanisms can incentivize them to behave in a
augmenting existing urban infrastructures, but on adding
certain way? This allows for a particular urban living scenario
new (digitally mediated) dimensions that result in behavioral
where the city and its actuated citizens would function as
changes in those who inhabit and commute within it. This
an integrated system that reacts in a continuous feedback
results in an increased depth of usable space and allows for a
of information that impacts how people behave. To keep the
more efficient use of existing infrastructures.
loop going, the digital layer also needs to provide incentives for
citizens to contribute different data streams and interact with
To this effect, the first premise of this section is the fact that
it in order to make it a stable system.
through digital and telecommunications technology the city
is sensed in real-time, and this information about spatial
Social networks can provide a platform for a performative
dynamics can be disseminated to create a feedback loop
and realistic incentive mechanism that functions as the social
between the city and its citizens. Next, we argue that an
glue that keeps this feedback loop running. The question is
incentive mechanism is required to guarantee the stability
how a social network can influence how much one’s behavior
of the proposed integrated system and the continuous
changes in a given context, which in this case is facilitated
participation and engagement of citizens. Finally, going
through the delivery of real-time information about the impact
through various risks and potentials of the proposed system,
of personal decisions. The resulting cybernetic, responsive
we speculate on a new approach to dealing with urban growth
system is a combination of one’s own feedback loop and the
as it relates to issues of safety and security.
community’s feedback loop, with social networks both holding
this hybrid system together and incentivizing members to
Having access to real-time information actuates citizens,
change their behavior.
while the digital infrastructure provides an interface between
them and the city from which they can retrieve information,
Aside from proposing systems of incentives, the project
or upload theirs. Access to information about how others live,
focuses on the potential and risks of deploying such a
work, and move within the city allows the citizens to grasp
cybernetic feedback loop between the city and its citizens.
what is happening there, implicitly changing the perspective
After all, the promise of digitally augmenting the city comes
on urban living. The traditional view of urban living is based on
with certain risks. For example, once information about
an ego-centric understanding where “what I do affects me and
different aspects of urban life is democratized and available
involves me personally.” The goal of this project is to change
to all citizens, it defeats the purpose of the proposed system
this to “what I do has an impact on the dynamics of the city at
if everybody reacts at the same way at the same time. The
a global scale,” and “any decision that I make impacts others.”
challenge is to find mechanisms to make such a system stable

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so that how people react does not negate the initial purpose of
integrating such a system to infrastructure of the city. In increasing the virtual density of the city instead of its physical
density, designers should go beyond their traditional task of
At the same time, the potential deals with the relative ease providing guidelines on the production of space, expanding
of scalability of digital systems. Whereas manipulating the their speculations to the less explored domain of creating
physical world is time-consuming and demands large financial guidelines for changing the cultural norms and societal
investments, expanding and modifying digital infrastructures behaviors that regard how the space is used. Furthermore,
can take less time and financial investment. Focusing on the spatial design needs to expand its reach to address the
scalability of digital tools, we will try to link their potential question of how the hybrid space of the city that emerges out
application to urban growth beyond the traditional tools of of recombining the digital and physical layers is accessed by
managing physical space, such as increasing the density of its citizens through effective interfaces. This project can be
infrastructures or expanding their territorial reach. summarized as “The City as Interface,” or an interface city.

The scalability of digital infrastructure can be evaluated from 3.6.1

two different, yet closely connected perspectives. First is CASE STUDY - The Copenhagen Wheel: socially networked,
its distributed nature, where mechanisms of sensing and digitally enhanced cycling (SENSEable City Lab)
actuation become ubiquitous and embedded throughout the
city. Second is the exponential rate at which information can Smart, responsive, and elegant, the Copenhagen Wheel is a
be distributed within a digital infrastructure, which addresses new emblem for urban mobility. It quickly transforms ordinary
the extreme potential of such systems in terms of what can bicycles into hybrid e-bikes that also function as mobile
be defined as virtual scalability: in data-sharing platforms, sensing units. The Copenhagen Wheel allows you to capture
I can share my data with ten others or tens of thousands. the energy dissipated while cycling and braking and save it for
The scalability of the physical infrastructure is nowhere near when you need a bit of a boost. It also maps pollution levels,
as flexible as the digital one. The question is how this sort of traffic congestion, and road conditions in real-time.
difference can be leveraged when it comes to dealing with
concerns about security, particularly in reducing the fear of Controlled through your smart phone, the Copenhagen
crime in the context of extreme urban growth. Wheel becomes a natural extension of your everyday life.
Simply place your phone on the handlebars, and its Bluetooth
Our cities are having a hard time keeping up with explosive module syncs with the Bluetooth module in the hub of the
urban growth through traditional approaches such as Wheel. You can use your phone to unlock and lock your bike,
expanding or augmenting physical infrastructures. Implicit in change gears, and select how much the motor assists you. As
our vision is a proposal for limiting the physical growth of the you cycle, the wheel’s sensing unit also captures your effort
city, sticking to the limits of what we have and making it more level and information about your surroundings, including
efficient by integrating or adding a digital layer that increase road conditions, carbon monoxide, NOx, noise, ambient
the depth of how the city is explored, used, and experienced by temperature, and relative humidity. Access this data through
its citizens. At the same time, parts of the cities’ physical layer your phone or the Web and use it to plan healthier bike routes,
need to be redesigned by integrating the first and second- to achieve your exercise goals, or to meet up with friends on
generation CPTED guidelines and the visions offered by green, the go. You can also share your data with friends or with your
sustainable urban design. Both redesigning the physical layer
and augmenting it with a cybernetic layer will help people feel > Figure 16: Sample visualization from data on air pollution collected
safer and more integrated into the social environment. by the embedded sensors of the Copenhagen Wheel Prototype.
SENSEable City Lab ©

Guidelines for redesigning the physical layer include: sufficient

street-lighting; pedestrian-friendly streets and pavements;
public parks and gardens at the neighborhood, regional, and
city scales; well-maintained and efficient public transportation
and its dedicated infrastructure; mixed-use neighborhoods;
balanced communities that include families from varying
social, ethnic, economic, and tenure status as opposed to
segregated neighborhoods; community centers that provide
services to various social groups with varying financial abilities
to pay for these services; enhancing the opportunities for
natural surveillance through redesigning the form of the
urban fabric, and providing sufficient levels of occupation and
density.

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city—anonymously if you wish—thereby contributing to a fine- energy, and financial cost. Ultimately, this contributes to the
grained database of environmental information from which we perception of safety and security on one hand, and fosters
can all benefit. a sense of affinity with the city on the other. Location-based
services improve the city’s legibility and clarify the spatio-
The Copenhagen Wheel easily turns the bike you already temporal distribution of its services. These services can be
own into an electric bike with regenerative and real-time, delivered on personal, handheld devices that are aware of the
environmental sensing capabilities. It differs from other current location of the user, the time of the day, the identity
electric bikes in that all components are elegantly packaged of the user; the preferences either specified by the user in
into one hub: there is no external wiring or bulky battery packs. his profile, or provided by the user as input; the navigational
Inside the hub, we have arranged a motor, a 3-speed internal patterns and habits of the user inferred by the system over
hub gear, batteries, a torque sensor, GPRS, and a sensor kit time; and finally, real-time information about traffic and up-to-
that monitors CO2, NOx, noise (db), relative humidity, and date routes of public transport.
temperature. In the future, you will be able to spec out your
wheel according to your riding habits and needs. Live in San While location-based services deliver customized information
Francisco? Add more battery power. Interested in real-time to a specific user, context-aware street signage augmented
applications? Increase the number of sensors. You own all with sensing and connectivity capabilities can create a network
the data that your Copenhagen Wheel collects. However, of information display across the city that provides general
you might like to share it with friends through online social real-time information. A combination of smart signage and
networks, gaining access to an even larger pool of information. location-based services contributes greatly to urban legibility.
Smart signage that is cybernetically enhanced and equipped
You can also make a bigger contribution through your with digital displays can provide general information about the
daily commute by sharing your data anonymously with current state of a city, for example, informing drivers about
your city. When many cyclists donate the information their heavy traffic and suggesting alternative routes. Or the signs
wheel is collecting, your city gains access to a new scale can alternate between traffic information and air pollution
of environmental information, allowing it to cross-analyze information retrieved via wireless networks from city-wide
different types of data on a scale that has never before been weather networks. Smart signs can also be utilized as user-
achieved. This can build a more detailed understanding of the centric interfaces that provide humanistic, friendly hints on
impact of transportation on a city’s infrastructure, or facilitate proper codes of conduct. For example, imagine a pedestrian
the study of dynamic phenomena like urban heat islands. light that not only temporally regulates pedestrian passage
Ultimately, this type of crowdsourcing can influence how your at an intersection, but also to detects when a pedestrian
city allocates its resources, how it responds to environmental is jaywalking. Imagine that the sign’s electronic interface
conditions in real-time, or how it structures and implements changes to communicate its discontent in a seamless way to
environmental and transportation policies. those involved in violation of law and the bystanders.

The Copenhagen Wheel combines the power of social A place in which nobody is lost and it is easy to find services
networks with distributed sensing and a sustainable, anywhere, anytime, offers the inhabitants a convenient urban
ecologically responsible mode of urban commuting into infrastructure. Hence, citizens will feel more in control of their
an integral package that can be described as responsible lives in a city that is nothing less that user-friendly. The city
citizenship. The same approach to augmenting day-to-day becomes a clear landscape, and the citizens feel a sense of
artifacts of urban living with sensing and social networking belonging and security.
capabilities builds on the fruitful potential of crowdsourcing
and social networking, which can contribute to the perception 3.7.1
of the city as secure and owned by responsible citizens who CASE STUDY - AIDA: smart navigation (SENSEable City Lab)
are welcome to contribute to its surveillance, to navigate it,
and to customize their experience using smart technologies. AIDA is an acronym for Affective Intelligent Driving Agent.
The AIDA project, a collaboration between Volkswagen of

3.7
America and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(SENSEable City Lab and Personal Robots Group of Media
Technologically enhanced urban navigation contributes to Lab), is a platform comprised of a personal robot and an
the legibility of the city’s fabric, easing spatial perception intelligent navigation system that aims to deliver an innovative
and enhancing the image of the city as user-friendly, safe and driving experience. The navigation system mimics the friendly
secure expertise of a driving companion who is familiar with both the
driver and the city. Instead of focusing solely on determining
Legibility refers to how easily one can find his way in the routes to a specified point, the system utilizes an analysis of
city, and how he can access city services with minimal time, driver behavior to identify the set of goals the driver would

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like to achieve. Furthermore, AIDA involves an understanding

of the city beyond what can be seen through the windshield,
incorporating information such as business and shopping
districts, tourist and residential areas, as well as real-time event
information and environmental conditions. Functionalities
that gather other information about driver preferences help
AIDA to behave more intelligently. One mandatory task for
AIDA is to predict the destination of the driver, as well as the
most likely route that he/she will follow. This will in turn allow
for useful reactions, such as proposing route alternatives
when something unexpected happens in the predicted route,
or providing the right information at the right time.

With the ubiquity of sensors and mobile computers,

information about our surroundings is abundant. AIDA
embodies a new effort to make sense of these great amounts
of data, harnessing our personal electronic devices as tools
for behavioral support. In developing AIDA, much effort was
focused on designing a system that would offer the same
kind of guidance as an informed and friendly companion.
AIDA communicates with the driver through a small robot
embedded in the dashboard, reading the driver’s mood from
> Figure 18: Prototype of the AIDA Robot. SENSEable City Lab ©
facial expressions and other cues and responding in a socially
appropriate and informative way. AIDA communicates in a > Figure 19: Figure 19: Sample Smart Context-aware Navigation Map
very immediate way: with the seamlessness of a smile or the Offered by the AIDA User-interface. SENSEable City Lab ©

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blink of an eye. Over time, the project envisions that a kind of offered in a city. The system augments conventional signage
symbiotic relationship develops between the driver and AIDA, used to convey dynamic information about a commercial
whereby both parties learn from each other and establish an enterprise in situ, such as the ones providing services and
affective bond. information to tourists, including hotels, bed-and-breakfasts,
restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, bars, and tourist information
To identify the set of goals the driver would like to achieve, centers. The platform digitally augments these signs with
AIDA analyses the driver’s mobility patterns, keeping track network capabilities and sensors that register changes to
of common routes and destinations. AIDA draws on an the entities and report these to a central server. These are
understanding of the city beyond what can be seen through a natural interface for communicating information such as
the windshield, incorporating real-time event information and open/closed, vacancy/no vacancy to on-site customers and
knowledge of environmental conditions, as well as commercial visitors, as well as those who check the availability of services
activity, tourist attractions, and residential areas. When it online via the information-delivery component of the system.
merges knowledge about the city with an understanding of The sign apparatus does not introduce a new mode of user
the driver’s priorities and needs, AIDA can make important interaction that demands specific technical knowledge, but
inferences. Within a week, AIDA will have figured out your digitally enhances conventional modes of interaction. Hence,
home and work locations. Soon afterwards the system will be the Smart Signs can be easily adopted and used by individuals
able to direct you to your preferred grocery store, suggesting who are not computer savvy, or are not willing to change in their
a route that avoids a street-fair-induced traffic jam. On the routine use of signs. The goal of the platform is to increase the
way, AIDA might recommend a stop to fill up your tank, upon visibility of small and local service providers, and to help them
noticing that you are getting low on gas. AIDA can also give you to work as a single body by integrating them into a centralized
feedback on your driving, helping you achieve more energy tourist information network.
efficiency and safer behavior.

3.7.2 3.8
CASE STUDY - Smart Signs: a tangible interface for collecting Establishing online platforms for municipalities worldwide to
and delivering information (SENSEable City Lab) share their experiences with third-generation CPTED, and the
criteria used to evaluate the results
Smart Signs is a system for retrofitting conventional
commercial signs with digital technology so that they may Third-generation CPTED will not be effective unless it
report real-time information to a central server in order to is applied on a global scale. This deployment should be
make this information available to potential tourists. This regulated through a socio-political body with jurisdiction that
platform can greatly increase a region’s accessibility and crosses conventional geo-political boundaries to encompass
appeal by providing real-time information about services and all city municipalities. This type of global approach demands
points of interest, while conveniently bridging the physical an infrastructure for exchanging knowledge and guiding
distance between potential tourists and their destinations. a productive global discourse that surpasses national,
continental, ethnic, racial, or geographical affiliations. Cyber-
The Smart Signs project proposes a platform for supplying platforms fit this description in that the virtual infrastructure
and retrieving basic real-time information about the services of discussion and interaction they offer is easily accessible
to all possible collaborators across time, space, or any
> Figure 20: Concept visualization for Smart Signs, retrofitting the constructed geo-political or socio-economic divide. An online
conventional sign with digital technology. SENSEable City Lab ©, platform that allows all cities to collaborate in the creation
Nashid Nabian ©
of a global knowledgebase about the theory and practice of
third-generation CPTED could be used by researchers and
practitioners to host a wiki of theory and practice. At the
same time, the municipalities that are registered in third-
generation CPTED can have dedicated sections in which they
share their current related practices, methodology, vision,
and the outcomes of their CPTED-related projects. Through
collaborative documentation of the state-of-the-art practice
on a global scale, criteria for evaluating the success of the
practiced strategies and applied theories can be established.

Furthermore, the online platform can also provide sections

dedicated to the urban population of each city that is the

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member of the consortium. These sections can include

discussion boards for citizens to voice their concerns about
urban issues and submit their viewpoints and proposals for
potential courses of action. The very same platform can also
be used to collect citizen feedback on the success of previously
implemented strategies. The user-generated content can
be studied by city officials and applied towards devising
new theories and practice manuals. Intensive research on
user-interface and information architecture is needed to
secure the success of this global-scale platform to assure
that the knowledge-based, cyber ecosystem is sustainable,
and correctly conveys the range of global voices instead of
fostering the viewpoint of cyber-lobbying interest groups.
Notes:

/ 20 Steve Mann, “Sousveillance,” [Link] (last accessed April

12, 2010).

/ 21 ibid

/ 22 Steve Mann, “I am a Camera,” [Link] (last accessed

April 12, 2010).

/ 23 Antoine Picon, “Espaces Publics Espaces Dangereux,” Géocarrefour, vol. 76, no.1 (2001):

23-26.

/24 Mirjam Struppek examines a series of digital augmentation projects of this particular

socio-political nature. The documentation of her inquiry is available in the public domain @

[Link]

/ 25 ibid

/ 26 In a 2003 art installation, Frequency and Volume: Relational Architecture 9, Rafael

Lozano-Hemmer explores the unavoidability of the invisible electronic phenomena. For more

information about the project, please consult its Web entry @ [Link]

com/english/projects/[Link].

/ 27 Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a technology that communicates via

electromagnetic waves to exchange data between a terminal and an object such as a product,

animal, or person, for the purpose of identification and tracking. Some tags can be read from

several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.

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Third-generation CPTED and
the post-conflict urban condition
/ 49

The guidelines for third-generation CPTED proposed in this document are particularly relevant to
dealing with the post-conflict urban condition. Post-conflict settings are often characterized by
physical and human destruction or dislocations; a weak economy that either existed prior to the
outbreak of violence or that results from a large-scale devastation of infrastructures; high rates
of unemployment; a lack of security and a ubiquitous fear of returning to the conflict condition;
and residual geographic, ethnic, or other tensions.

In post-conflict urban situations, environmental design must be an integral part of a

comprehensive restructuring and stabilization program that focuses on improving the well-
being of the affected population. General strategies for responding to post-conflict conditions
include humanitarian assistance such as reintegrating displaced populations; rebuilding
physical infrastructure (roads, railroads, ports, power, water, etc.) and providing public services;
restarting and rehabilitating critical industries, clusters, and value chains; economic reform and
providing jobs; building institutional capacities; employment and improving the welfare and living
standards of the population; restoring the legitimacy of the government; expanding physical
security; undertaking policy reforms; and providing mediation between conflicting parties. These
strategies can enhance the prospects of sustaining peace and preventing a return to conflict and
violence.

In this context, CPTED can help to achieve those goals. First and foremost, conflict reduces
physical security, and the perception of security significantly threatens the rule of law in that
conflict often leads to a breakdown in the government’s ability to enforce the laws. In the aftermath
of conflict, returnees are primarily concerned about going home to a safe environment to resume
their livelihoods and rebuild their communities. The public must have confidence in the post-
conflict government’s ability to manage the situation. The tension between security concerns
and the efficient flow of goods needed to restore physical infrastructures and rebuild a country’s
capacity to manage them makes the situation even more complex. People dealing with an
uncertain and unstable future right after the conflict have a reduced confidence in the capability
of their governments to control the situation, protect them, and prevent a return to violence. In
this respect, CPTED guidelines for enhancing the perception of safety and security and reducing
the fear of crime have utmost relevance. Furthermore, economic issues such as an inequitable
distribution of assets and opportunities, or a widely held perception of inequitable distribution
are very often the cause of an outbreak of violence. Economic growth is a straightforward way to
prevent a return to conflict, and sustainable, green environmental design and third-generation

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CPTED contribute to the vision of a sustainable economic

growth.

At times, geographic, political, ethnic, social, or cultural

tensions between parties with conflicting interests are
the driving force behind a violent urban conflict. Sources
of hostility may be very deeply rooted, and therefore very
difficult to eradicate. Effective mediation can contribute to
resolving these issues that are often foremost in the minds of
the affected population. In this document on third-generation
CPTED, various suggestions focus on how technology can
be used to transform the space of a city to a conflict-free
interaction field that actively mediates between parties
with conflicting interests. For instance, cyber services that
expand an individual’s influence over his environmental
circumstances and mediate his interaction with the political
agencies and institutions, and technologies that contribute
to transparent urban dynamics, enhance an environment of
mutual trust between citizens and the governmental agencies.
The development of this type of dialogue is critical, particularly
given the fact that citizens’ contributions, collaboration, and
engagement is much needed in situations where the national
or local government is weakened or/and has limited power.

The transparent spatial dynamics promoted by third-

generation CPTED reduce risk and increase the predictability
of the environment of post-conflict urban life. Moreover,
CPTED strategies that look at the possibility of creating a sense
of belonging to a greater community are also of relevance in
the post-conflict urban condition, since community members
should be involved in identifying targets for rehabilitation, as
well as ensuring the inclusiveness of the post-conflict policies
and decisions.

> Figure 21: Real-Time Rome combines different datasets in a single

interface: real-time data, GIS data and raster images. SENSEable
City Lab ©

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NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

 5
Policy Remarks and Conclusions
/ 53

As the world’s population continues to grow, so do its cities and metropolitan regions.
Safety/security concerns about preventing crime and reducing the fear of crime have become
more pressing, as every year more cities are feeling the effects of this situation.
For the first time in history, urban population exceeds the rural population and more than half
of the world’s inhabitants live in cities and towns. The world is going through a significant urban
transformation, and such a metamorphosis has many consequences at the economic, social
and political level. A new urban time is upon us.
While urbanization, migration flows, and social conflicts are increasing, the financial resources at
disposal are decreasing and as a result so are the possible alternative solutions to these issues.
That is why the need for combined investment and solutions becomes the only way out and
that is why in the governance of cities, the green environmental design must also lead to
more secure and safer environments. The city’s budget has to be managed in a way to achieve
multiple results through more intelligent and efficient policies.
In one word, today’s resolution is to do more with less.
This report is not aimed at offering definitive solutions to the problems of cities, nor does it urge
mayors or governments to adopt one policy or the other. Rather, its main aim is to provide a
number of hands on and pragmatic policy suggestions based on the revision of the current
CPTED theoretical framework. This would allow cities to meet some of the most urgent needs
of the citizens like having a properly designed city with adequate services; less polluted more
energetic and friendly environments; and a more safe and secure area to live in.
This momentous step represents a big challenge as, together with the cities’ growth, also their
complexity is rapidly increasing, turning metropolitan regions into laboratories for testing future
solutions and its administrators into key international political players not only at the local level,
but also at the global one.

This rapidly increasing urbanization is accompanied by an equally increased distribution of risks

and burdens to two different extents: that of security and that of environment. That is why the
joint work UNICRI Lab and MIT is intended to respond to three major changes that will shape the
world in the coming decades: urbanization, climate change and security.
Therefore, the action of mayors and governments should focus on preventive responses
and be oriented to impact on the perception of security of citizens through the sustainable
regeneration of urban areas. Such a challenge has already been taken by several national and
local administrators of major cities and the results have shown remarkable and measurable
improvements. The result is that when the structure of the city is designed to keep in mind both

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security and environment, the overall wellbeing of the citizens In this context, the third generation of CPTED proposed in this
is improved. report takes into account the rapid development resulting
Green regeneration of urban areas can effectively help in from new technologies. Digital and telecommunication
preventing segregation, crime and anti-social behaviours and, technologies have transformed our physical world into a
therefore, in combating fear. Societies can develop resilience hybrid of materials and information. They have also enhanced
to overcome crime and violence, insecurity of tenure, and the urbanites’ sphere of influence through digitally retrofitted
insecurity in general. Some cities such as Medellin (Colombia), means while introducing new modes of living in a networked
Daidema (Brazil), or New York (USA) have demonstrated that society. Network culture, the ubiquity of embedded electronics
crime and violence can be reduced. and digital devices, the pervasiveness of cybernetic sensing
Urban design and architecture have an acknowledged impact and actuation, the informatics revolution and exponential
on security: they are instruments capable of resolving existing growth in our ability to store and manage large amounts of
problems, avoiding the outbreak of new ones, recomposing digital information that can now be accessed instantaneously
existing divisions and creating links between the cities’ various and with ease, all signal the possibility of revolutionizing how
areas. we think about urban safety and security.
However, beyond the idea of “plain” city planning, the city The third-generation CPTED envisages a green, sustainable
design can be developed to take into account sustainable approach to enhance the living standards of urbanites and
and low impact solutions. The liveability, aesthetic, social improve the image of the city as user-friendly, safe, and
and economic attractiveness and safety of cities need to be secure. It focuses on a particular sort of spatial democracy and
enhanced, and so does the efficiency of the cities’ energy transparency characterized by the use of solid infrastructures
usage. Defining sustainable standards in the urban planning and solutions, and of situated technologies. A transparent,
is a crucial asset to improve security governance; that is why, readable city assures the citizens that each and every salient
this report is intended to devise and promote new preventive urban dynamic is unveiled and available to the public. At the
urban security policies in more liveable habitats. same time, building on the potential of online social networks,
Starting from the above assumptions, this report analyzes the third-generation CPTED aims to create a sense of belonging
interdependencies between ecology, green urban design and and membership to a greater community by soliciting citizen
security both of the citizens and, more in general, of the urban engagement and participation in improving the conditions of
environment. urban living.
To this end, the report starts from the CPTED theory which Third generation of CPTED described in this report focuses
is currently available to municipalities and which is not on three main methodological branches. They suggest to
adequately updated to take into account both advances in the urban policy-makers an approach to be adopted when
new technologies and the pressing concerns about ecology planning the security policies of the respective cities.
and the environmental impacts of urban living. This creates a
palpable exigency for devising a paradigm for CPTED. /1 Anticipate the dynamics of the city
The First-generation CPTED promoted a fortified lifestyle The extensive application of sensing practices utilizing
where surveillance, territoriality, and access control were situated technologies allows for real-time access to urban
used as the means to prevent crime. The second generation information. The simultaneity of this information will help us
of CPTED, however, is focused on sustainable development to not just to predict the future trends, but also to anticipate what
promote environmental design strategies that would eliminate is just around the corner. This allows for a real-time urbanism,
the reason d’etre of urban crimes by creating livable, civilized, or anticipatory urbanism.
balanced communities in well-maintained urban settings.
These conform to agreed-upon codes of conduct, while /2 Collaborate on improving standards of living
socio-political structures of interaction foster collaboration Retrofitting the city with online and interactive functionalities
and enhance the citizens’ control over their environment by can make it an interaction field that promotes a culture
providing proper venues for them to voice their concerns and of collaboration among the citizens where social/human
contribute to the livability of their civilized urbanity. relations are capitalized upon for the greater good; that is, a
Yet, the challenges that urbanity faces today are not limited sustainable, green city that is safe and secure.
to concerns about being able to sustain a safe and secure
mode of operation. Cities also need to take into account the /3 Sense and actuate the city
larger ecosystem in which they live: the planet Earth, with its Sensing mechanisms can be helpful in gauging what is
depletable resources and fragile ecosystem. Hence, the cities happening in the city, while actuating mechanisms can apply
of today and the near future need not only to be sustainable, the principles of cybernetics to how the city is maintained,
but also green: designed and maintained in a way that allows soliciting emergent conditions that are registered via sensing.
them to thrive in a symbiotic and synergetic relationship with Not only can the physical elements of the city be actuated, but
the global natural ecology. the citizens themselves can also act as actuators. Access to

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

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real-time information can direct their processes of decision- roofs, neighborhood and city-scale parks, and public gardens;
making and their behaviors towards a more sustainable,
green, and safe lifestyle; that is, citizens can be mobilized in /3 Fostering new developments that target mixed and
the right direction. balanced communities in terms of income level, social status,
Aside from transforming a city to a sensed, collaboratively ethnicity, demographics, and tenure;
managed, adoptive, correctly mobilized urban condition, the
third generation of CPTED offers criteria for measuring the /4 Supporting new developments and revitalization projects
effectiveness of its proposed strategies. that aim to create new spaces, or re-structure existing
Firstly, the voluntary or solicited citizen input can be tapped neighborhoods as mixed-use instead of single-use;
through online platforms and social networks.
Secondly, certain indicators can be monitored by engaged /5 Optimizing the urban removal chain in terms of sewage
parties in order to gauge the level of improvement in the management and garbage collection, taking into account
perception of safety and security: technologies and cultural practices regarding recycling and
grey water treatment;
/a To what extent is the public space of the city used by the
inhabitants not only as a transit space, but as a destination in /6 Enhancing natural surveillance by providing sufficient street
itself? lighting at night, securing the required level of occupation and
usage at all times;
/b To what extent have the new strategies reduced reported
crimes and expressed fear of crime? /7 Ensuring that no place in the city is a terrain-vague; that is,
a place with no institutional supervision;
Finally, while previous generations of CPTED focused solely
on physical interventions, the third generation introduces the /8 Promoting revitalization and redevelopment projects
prospect of effectively incorporating cybernetic interventions. that focus on grey or brown sites—that is, sites previously
This does not mean that it disregards the importance of accommodating hazardous industries, or sites that are
strategies that solicit physical changes to the structure of devastated by natural disasters or violent conflicts, or sites
urbanity, but that cybernetic modes of operation oriented that have been previously occupied and are currently vacant
towards affecting behavioral changes in citizens to achieve a due to economic or sociocultural reasons;
more sustainable, green, mode of living should be added to
the mix. This will provide new tools for citizens to interact with /9 Providing sufficient and effective public transportation
the space of the city, allow them to interface with the services infrastructure that not only contributes to the well-being of
it offers, and increase the depth of urban space in terms of citizens, but also contributes to reducing traffic, which has a
efficient use and optimized performance and consequently direct impact on the psychological well-being of citizens;
increased sense of belonging and security
/10 Allocating sufficient financial resources to the regular
Both the physical and cyber layers of space and the potential maintenance of civic spaces, including streetscapes and
of design based intervention need to be examined together urban facades;
to achieve more sustainable, green, ecologically responsible
solutions. /11 Allocating sufficient financial and human resources for
The revision of the current CPTED theory into its third- providing public education, particularly for the young urban
generation suggested by this report proposes to design population;
the physical layer of the city respecting the following
recommendations. /12 Providing efficient regulations for the construction
These guidelines are to be taken as concrete suggestions sector in terms of monitoring the structural integrity, energy
for policy-makers in order to design effective environmental efficiency, and quality of building proposals;
policies and take concrete measures that have an impact on
the urban security and its perception among the citizens. /13 Providing financial support and the macro and
microeconomic infrastructure to assist the low-income urban
/1 Integrating into the fabric of the city a sufficient amount population in home-ownership;
of public spaces to provide appropriate settings for collective
activities and gatherings; The suggested third-generation of CPTED is an all-
encompassing perspective for the regeneration of cities. To
/2 Integrating sufficient green spaces at various scales, this respect, other than only showing mere indications on how
including street vegetation, vertical green facades, green to distribute the city spaces, these solutions aim to re-think

NEW ENERGY FOR URBAN SECURITY

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this urbanized time, where solid structures and safe urban

solutions can integrate with the new digital technology.
A different life-style is what we aim to reach through the
use of this urban policy.
A new life-style where the citizenry is actively participating
and living the city with a different approach. Mayors and
administrators in general can offer a different structure of
the cities, but citizens also must act more actively to ensure
a more “democratic” and readable city. To this extent, an
assertive participation can translate into more perceived
security as it involves an active interaction of the citizens with
their territory; it means to pass from the big brother society
to the shared responsibility society. It means to find shared
and common solutions for the collective wellbeing, and it also
means to put all our strengths to improve the level of life of
the many instead of the few.

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/ 58

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senseable city lab :.::
MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology