Secured by Design

One of our designers Dave Anderson came across this initiative from the UK Police called Secured by Design.  Despite its unfortunate acronym, SBD talks a lot of sense regarding lighting design in urban areas.

Some key points:

• Improved lighting can be effective in reducing fear of crime, and in certain circumstances reducing the incidence of crime;

• Different lighting sources need to be considered for different environments – the character of the local environment must always be respected.

It states that ‘Research confirms that where public lighting is weak or patchy, increasing the levels and consistency of illumination reduces the fear of crime and makes people feel more secure. The relationship between lighting and crime itself (as opposed to fear of crime) is somewhat more complex, but recent research (Farrington & Welsh 2002, Home Office research study 251) indicates that improved lighting can indeed result in crime reduction, particularly when this has been combined with other community safety initiatives.’

The report also talks about the importance of light quality and advocates white light instead of sodium sources with poor colour rendering.

We believe that good quality lighting is  an essential component of designing for security.  We feel that it is important to design in a way which is respectful to the local community – not assuming everything needs to be ultra vandal-resistant just because an area may be socially disadvantaged.  Provide decent lighting and we believe people will respond favourably, will appreciate the gesture and benefit from the improved amenity.  Its not just good design, it’s respect.