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Middlesex University Research Repository an Open Access Repository Of Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Sothcott, Keir (2009) Crime, fear of crime and social order in a post-war British new town: a humanistic contribution to environmental criminology. PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis] This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/6256/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy Crime, Fear of Crime and Social Order in a Post-War British New Town A Humanistic Contribution to Environmental Criminology Keir Sothcott Middlesex University October 2009 Dissertation submitted to the School of Health and Social Sciences, Middlesex University, in Partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2 3 Abstract This study examines the continuing viability of the New Town Idea – an influential post-war Town Planning Model – in relation to current government imperatives that all future urban developments contribute to crime prevention and the diminishment of fear. The study advances an „urbanism from below‟ by considering how residents of Harlow, one of the first built New Towns, experience their everyday environment and the impact it has upon their perceptions of crime, fear and disorder. By focusing upon the „lived experiences‟ of a whole urban environment and its compatibility with human need, the study offers a „Humanistic‟ approach to Environmental Criminology. It should, therefore, interest not only those responsible for current and future urban development but also those hoping to move Environmental Criminology beyond a narrow concern with risk reduction. The thesis suggests that the New Town Idea, as manifest in Harlow, is a weak foundation for establishing a strong urban public realm. This is probably a major reason why the town has a crime rate incommensurate with the idea‟s original utopian aspirations. Nevertheless, the same idea succeeds in enhancing a „sense of place‟ which residents of Harlow experience in a way that reduces fear of crime. Especially important is the experience of „mystery‟ and local familiarity within a context of environmental legibility and coherence that simultaneously satisfies ontological and bio-psychological human needs for security and risk. Thus, the study concludes that the New Town Idea, contrary to the claims of its many detractors, does retain a partial viability. Some important modifications to the Idea, however, are necessary. The study finishes, therefore, by suggesting that the New Town Idea may successfully combine with the principles of New Urbanism in the development of towns with both „safe‟ and pleasurable environments. 4 Acknowledgements I thank, first and foremost, my wife Catherine who has put up with my prevarications and frustrations with saintly patience while always offering support and the occasional kick on the posterior during times of lapse. I also thank Dr Peter Kennison with his help and encouragement during the later stages of writing-up, Professor Anthony Goodman for the same reasons, Professor Kevin Stenson for providing the original kick, Malcolm Read for his skill in „tarting things up‟, my parents for listening enthusiastically and all my colleagues at Middlesex University. A special thanks to my „in-laws‟ in New Zealand who nobly took over my family responsibilities on a regular basis while I wrote. I dedicate the study, however, to my children, Joe and Ben for whose future it was written in more ways than one. 5 CONTENTS Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Contents 5 Charts and Figures 8 Research Objectives 9 Introduction: An Overview of the Research 10 Part One – Urban Disorder: The Problem 35 perceived and a Solution Conceived Chapter One: Perceptions of Disorder and the Origins of the New Town 36 Idea - 19th Century Cities and the Problematic Public Realm - Resolving the Urban Problem: The Birth of Town Planning as a medium of Social Control Chapter Two: Modernity, Town Planning and the New Town Idea 56 - A Tour Through Harlow - Modernity and the New Town Idea as a Model of Social Order - Organic Urbanism [1] Neo-Medievalism 6 [2] The „Balanced‟ Community Part Two – The Solution Assessed 86 Chapter Methods and Methodology: Understanding the New Town 87 Three: Experience - Chapter Crime and Fear of Crime in Harlow: A Statistical Profile 110 Four: - The Value of Criminal Statistics to the Research - Crime in Harlow: Comparison to Other CDRPs - Crime in Harlow: Ward Comparisons - Fear of Crime Within Harlow Conclusion: The Need for Further Research Chapter Five: A Case of Mistaken Identity: Representations of the New 129 Town Chapter Six: Experiencing Harlow‟s Environment: A Personal Account 146 Chapter Fear and Crime in a New Town Neighbourhood 160 Seven: - The New Town Idea and the Neighbourhood Unit Principle - The Experience of Crime and Disorder in Mark Hall North Chapter The Pleasure of Risky Environments: Crime, Fear and 191 Eight: Harlow‟s Town Park Chapter Nine: Agoraphobia in Harlow‟s Town Centre 205 7 Part Three – The New Town Idea Today 223 Chapter Ten: Urban Fear and the Affective Evaluation of Environment 224 - Existential Space - Prospect-Refuge, Mystery and Hazard - Conclusion Chapter The Viability of the New Town Idea Today 251 Eleven: - Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and the New Town Idea - An Alternative Paradigm: New Urbanism, Crime Prevention and the New Town Idea Bibliography 278 Appendix One Questions Used In Interviews 313 Appendix Two Interviews Conducted for the Research 316 Appendix The Ambivalence of Risk: A Photographic Essay 316 Three 8 Fig1: The New Towns of England & Wales 55 Fig 2 The Old and the New- Two High Streets in Harlow 57 Fig 3 Map Outlining Area of Mark Hall North 167 Fig 4 A „Country Lane‟ Dividing Two Housing Estates 171 Fig 5 Open space Fronting Tanys Dell Housing Group 171 Fig 6 Street Curvature in Glebelands 172 Fig 7 The Lawn 175 Fig 8 Design Outline of Bishopsfields 182 Fig 9 Map of „The High‟ Today 213 Fig 10 Multi-Storey car Park on Terminus Street 214 Fig 11 Subway Entrance 215 Fig 12 Market Place Facing Towards Broad Walk 217 A Cycle Track Passing Woodland Near Town Centre 318 B Pathway Passing Between Woodland Leading to Housing Group 318 C Entrance to Woodland at End of Residential Street 319 D Private Gardens Backing Onto Woodland 319 E „Picturesque‟ Pathway in Town park Passing Under Bridge 320 F Woodland at End of Cul-de-Sac 320 G Entrance to Housing Group 321 H „Gateway‟ to Harlow Town Centre 321 Chart 1 Crimes by CDRP Type 2004/05 114 Chart 2 Violence Against the Person Family Group 6 117 2004/05 Chart 3 Theft of a Motor car Family Group 6 2004/05 117 Chart 4 Crimes by Ward Type 2004/05 121 Chart 5 Public Order Offenses by Ward 2004/05 121 Chart 6 Public Order Disturbances by Ward 2004/05 122 Chart 7 Public DisOrder by Type in Harlow 122 Table 1 CDRP Family Group 6 Crime Comparisons 118/119 Table 2 Index of Multiple Deprivation 123 Box 1 Wards in Harlow 119 Box 2 Measures & Weightings for Calculating Rank-Order on 123 Index of Multiple Deprivation Box 3 Crime & Anxiety in Harlow 125 Box 4 Crimes in Netteswell and Mark Hall Beat 176/177 9 Research Objectives The objective of the following research study is to assess the continuing viability of the „New Town Idea‟, a term I use, following Aldridge (1979) to describe an influential town planning model that gained formal government approval in the immediate post-war decades. Given the government‟s recent announcement to begin building a series of „Eco-Towns‟ – distinct and autonomous „new‟ urban settlements - such a research project appears highly pertinent. In particular, the research examines the compatibility of the New Town Idea with current models of „Crime Prevention through Environmental Design‟ (CPTED). However, in pursuing this objective, I provide a critical assessment of both the original New Town Idea and more recent town-planning initiatives that fully embrace and prioritise crime prevention imperatives. Another key objective of the research, as indicated by the dissertation‟s subtitle, is to introduce a humanistic approach to Environmental Criminology. Partially, this objective arose from a suspicion that much Environmental Criminology and the policy initiatives that derive from it, continues to suffer from an overly „positivistic‟ methodology and strict adherence to forms of „causal‟ analysis. Although such approaches can yield valuable knowledge and contribute towards the design of „safe‟ urban environments I contend that they will often overlook important aspects of how people directly experience their surroundings.
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