NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Jarrod Gilbert: Watch Christchurch to see how good building design can make cities safer

By Jarrod Gilbert
NZ Herald·
29 Aug, 2016 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

If Christchurch gets it right, the many "no-go" areas that we expect in central cities may be completely designed out. Photo / Geoff Sloan

If Christchurch gets it right, the many "no-go" areas that we expect in central cities may be completely designed out. Photo / Geoff Sloan

Opinion

While politicians in the US debate what to do around the plague of mass shootings occurring in their country, an unlikely group is taking definitive action: architects.

When a gunman killed 20 students at a school in Sandy Hook in Connecticut, the town decided to build a new school and the architects had crime in mind when they designed it.

The new school has a broad front entrance that allows for open surveillance while a rain garden - in effect, a form of moat - acts as a boundary. The entrances have been designed to allow greater control as to who enters the building.

The designing of buildings and public spaces to inhibit crime is not new. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, or CPTED (pronounced sep-ted), was devised in the 1970s but has become increasingly popular in recent times, including in New Zealand.

In fact, one of CPTED's leading exponents, Dr Franks Strokes, is a Kiwi.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Using his ideas as well as others from around the world, the Ministry of Justice devised CPTED principles in 2005 that they have pushed out to city councils around the country, although uptake has been variable. One place where CPTED has been adopted as a priority is in Christchurch. An inner city needing to be entirely rebuilt following earthquakes required careful thought and CPTED was seen as important to that.

Christchurch's top cop, Superintendent John Price, is an enthusiast of preventing crime rather than simply responding to it, and he is one who has identified the value of good design. "I'd rather not have to deploy [so many] police officers in the CBD, I want the CBD to largely police itself. And if we can do that through some basic CPTED principles, which we can, then we should".

One standout example in Christchurch is the Bus Interchange that replaced the pre-quake rabbit warren which was a hotbed of crime and disorder.

Statistics show that crime in the new interchange has dropped dramatically. Police calls for service are just a quarter in the new bus terminal compared to what they were in the old one. And while we must be extremely cautious making such comparisons because the city pre-quake and now is so different, even in relation to the temporary interchange crime has fallen sharply.

The police are convinced this has much to do with the new design, and if they're right then that's big.

Discover more

Opinion

Jarrod Gilbert: Gangs will endure longer than Judith Colllins

05 Apr 02:36 AM
Opinion

Jarrod Gilbert: Maori incarceration rates are an issue for us all

26 Apr 07:31 PM
Opinion

Jarrod Gilbert: Beat-up on bikies an assault on all of our rights

30 May 05:00 PM
Opinion

Gilbert: Massive meth bust inevitable

27 Jun 05:00 PM

What did these improvements cost? Well, in this instance, nothing. The architect told me that good CPTED does not have to increase the budget. He also said it should also be invisible to the public. This is because CPTED isn't an architectural style, it is a series of measures and techniques that can be applied to any kind of building or space. People may notice that a place "feels good" without knowing why.

The Bus Interchange in Christchurch includes toilet facilities that open directly on to a shared, observable foyer meaning people can be noticed if they are lingering in unusual ways. This discourages nefarious behaviour as the public unknowingly become guardians of the space. People are less likely to commit crime if they think they are being observed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Alcoves and other potential entrapment spaces have been minimised, and the use of many visually permeable barriers in areas such as the bicycle storage area allow for observation ahead of travel, and maximise natural surveillance.

The footpath outside of the building is wide, and subtle changes in the pavement material mark the distinction between waiting and walking areas - to make it less likely people will bump into each other (particularly late-night revellers) and thus reduce the likelihood of fights.

But CPTED is not just about reducing crime. A key idea of CPTED is a rejection of a "fortress mentality" meaning it seeks to maximise the use of public spaces by connecting places together with corridors and pathways that are well lit and open. In doing so you don't just minimise crime, you increase liveability. When places feel safe people naturally use them more.

If Christchurch gets it right, the many "no-go" areas that we expect in central cities may be completely designed out.

While town planners and architects in New Zealand don't have to consider mass shootings like they do in the US, tackling complex issues like crime by designing spaces that are safe and inviting is nevertheless attractive here.

The Christchurch experience is one that we should all watch with interest.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Unsettling time': Police seek info in Northland homicide case

12 May 03:28 AM
New Zealand

'Paris fashion week worthy': Show combines cancer research and catwalk

12 May 03:28 AM
New Zealand

Police station axe attack-accused denies charges

12 May 03:22 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Author Rachel Paris on ‘massive’ writing failure before hit debut novel

Author Rachel Paris on ‘massive’ writing failure before hit debut novel

12 May 03:40 AM

Success of See How They Fall follows the 'devastation' of a failed writing project.

'Unsettling time': Police seek info in Northland homicide case

'Unsettling time': Police seek info in Northland homicide case

12 May 03:28 AM
'Paris fashion week worthy': Show combines cancer research and catwalk

'Paris fashion week worthy': Show combines cancer research and catwalk

12 May 03:28 AM
Police station axe attack-accused denies charges

Police station axe attack-accused denies charges

12 May 03:22 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP