NEIGHBOURHOOD BOTCH

MAN DIES IN LIQUOR STORE HOLD-UP ...WOMAN ROBBED, RUNOVER IN CARPARK ... ELDERLY WOMAN BASHED IN HOME INVASION.
Across Auckland, everyday people are losing their sense of security, one headline at a time. And, no: this is not another story about South Auckland. This is about a problem in your neighbourhood' or the next neighbourhood to yours. It's one that, many people say, could have been foreseen. Or should have been. Debrin Foxcroft reports
As the sun dips below the horizon, everything changes. Once-friendly green bushes change shape and darken. The only light is in slivers: slivers through curtained windows. Fences, taller than a man, hide what's happening. Could happen. We'll start in South Auckland, with Toa Greening, a witness to what's shaped the past few week's headlines. As a member of the Manurewa Crime Watch Patrol, he is out there, on the streets, trying to make a difference. But to him, it can feel like a drop of water in a raging ocean. Crime is on the increase, he says, and the numbers agree. Counties Manukau Police statistics show that while dishonesty crimes such as burglary are down, the number of recorded violent crimes have increased. "Safety is the No 1 issue. If you and your kids are safe, then nothing else matters," says Mr Greening. While booze, P and poor parenting are frequently blamed, others are looking at the streets and saying that crime is influenced by the way we design our cities. Crime prevention through environmental design is not a new idea. As families deserted the inner cities and marched into suburbia after World War II, US planners began to worry that cul-de-sacs, high fences and inward looking properties might lessen the sense of community. People were turning their back on each other. The same suburbs sprung up here. Curving streets with dead ends spread through Kiwi neighbourhoods. Garages moved to the front of sections; front doors moved back and to the side. People barricaded themselves behind tall fences and thick shrubs. But as the public was building fortifications, criminals were taking advantage of them. Designers across the region acknowledge that Auckland has created dangerous neighbourhoods. Jan McCredie, urban design manger at Manukau City Council, says the lack of visibility on our streets encourages criminal behaviour. "With streets that curve, you are always looking at the sides of buildings. The whole time on these streets is like being enclosed." At the end of cul-de-sacs, pedestrians are trapped with no paths out. And the paths, frequently walled with 2m fences on either side, can be like walking a gauntlet. She sees the changing attitudes to transport and community as a major reason behind the way her city was developed. Suburbs have been designed so houses turned their backs on the reserves, facing forward to the roads - great for cars, but whatever happens in the reserves after dark happens with little chance of anyone seeing. The reserves are also linked across most of Manukau, making it easy to pass from one green space to another without ever being seen. South Auckland police - and residents with long memories - recall how that layout assisted one of the country's most notorious criminals, Joseph Stephenson Thompson, commit serial rapes in the area during the late 80s and early 90s. The months-long hunt for him was even code-named "Operation Park". "Traditionally in cities, you would never have had a park that wasn't ringed around by houses facing inwards," Ms McCredie says. "Things changed after the war when cities became designed for cars and not people. Communities became full of 'dead worm' subdivisions. ["Dead worm" as in short streets that go nowhere. Look at the street map of your suburb.] "Unfortunately, it is impossible to redesign on a major street level." Often, the only options are to stick a Band Aid over the wound and improve planning for new developments. Yu Yi, a senior policy adviser at Manukau City Council, agrees that starting over is out of the question. "It's difficult to go back and fix things," she says. "A house is there for 50 years but a street lasts for over 200 years. "We can't just bulldoze the houses; these projects are a huge capital investment."
ACROSS AUCKLAND, reserves are a cause for concern. Full of places to hide and limited lighting, there are few better places for bad behaviour. Waitakere has 578 parks and reserves. Michael Alofa, the city's crime prevention project manager, has the challenge of balancing beauty with security, making lush green reserves safe for the community. "In areas like La Rosa Garden Reserve and Tipairiti Stream, the overgrown trees are attracting drinking. People are congregating after dark," says Mr Alofa. Tony Gilbert, deputy principal at Green Bay High School, agrees about the way La Rosa has been developed. "The geography of the park is undulating, there's a lot of foliage and a lot of entry and exit points. It makes it difficult to have a cursory look," he says. "If you come here, you are out of earshot and eyesight." With condom wrappers left under a tree, it's clear that some have been making use of the seclusion. Glenda Peake, a teacher at Green Bay Kindergarten on the edge of La Rosa, is less than enthusiastic about the park's nocturnal uses. "We need these parks for the children," she says. "But it's not good for children to look out and see inappropriate behaviour." She doesn't want the all the trees removed - she believes children need adventure. But there needs to be a balance, and the way the park stands now is a serious concern. For La Rosa, Mr Alofa has brought together local schools, kindergarten and neighbours to discuss how they can apply crime prevention principles to the land. Mr Alofa points to attacks in Henderson Park as examples of what happens in areas without surveillance. "There were three sexual assaults last year," he says. "We spoke with the community and heard their concerns. Now if you walk through it, the trees are heavily trimmed and you can see clear across it." It's not just parks. Grant Watson of New Lynn Police has had issues with his suburb's bus station and is looking forward to designs for a new transport hub. "The old bus terminal has several design issues from a crime perspective. The dark passageways and limited lighting at night are a concern. We have surveillance but I would like more, and better visibility in general. In his opinion, many things than can be improved. But Waitakere was one of the first councils to involve these principles in their design considerations. "As a police officer, that's great." On the Shore, senior urban design planner John Stenberg sounds a note of warning. "Crime prevention through environmental design is, broadly, just good design," he says. "We should be creating interesting places, not just safe ones." One key point of designing communities to deter crime is to create passive surveillance. "Our whole approach has been to get eyes on the street, to maintain active frontages. People who have a criminal intent need to feel there are a number of eyes on them." Some areas simply can't be made safer. Think, the topography or a protected environment. There, Mr Stenberg believes, it's the council's responsibility to reduce the risk of crime by making the area actually feel unsafe to residents. "In some cases it is far better off not to provide lights to discourage the feeling that a generally unsafe area is safe," he says. So, if someone is out there to do something wrong, they will be sitting there a very long time, all by themselves, explains the urban designer. In the central and inner city, vulnerable spots are carparks and open areas. While not answering specific questions, Auckland City Council gave us a statement to say it's heavily investing in crime prevention through environmental design, training 50 staff a year on the principles. This includes some funding from the Justice Ministry's crime prevention unit. "The 'Safer Auckland City' team works closely with the Police to focus on areas that would benefit from crime prevention through environmental design attention."
AT FLAT BUSH, designers are trying to build crime prevention principles into Manukau's newest suburb. "We have put streets along reserves and houses facing on to streets. Apartment buildings are facing into Sir Barry Curtis Park," Ms McCredie points out. But in the end, suburbs and neighbourhoods should be about people. "If you are talking to someone you face them, you don't turn your back on them," she says. "But that's how we have designed our communities - with their back turned to the world."