The defensible space theory of architect and city planner Oscar Newman encompasses ideas about crime prevention and neighborhood safety.
The book contains a study from New York that pointed out that higher crime rate existed in high-rise housing projects than in low-rise complexes.
Throughout his study, Newman focused on explaining his ideas on social control, crime prevention, and public health in relation to community design.
New public housing projects were designed around ideas of limited access to the city, but Hartford did not show any dramatic drop in crime.
From low density housing to high rises, the key is the development of a communal area in which residents can "extend the realm of their homes and the zone of felt responsibility."
Lastly, since working adults often treat housing as a hotel guest, mid-rise and high-rise buildings with a doorman is highly recommended.
[citation needed] Some of his basic ideas are still taken into consideration at present, and all contemporary approaches and discussions of the relationship between crime and house design use Newman's theory as a critical point of reference.
[10] Although modifications were made to the original theory in the 1980s,[10] Newman's basic principles still exist in design, and have been used by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as "both a criminological concept and a proven strategy for enhancing our Nation's quality of life".
[12] In the HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero, Newman, a recurring character, articulates his theory of defensible space to Judge Sand as they try to plan where to place two hundred new units of desegregated public housing in the city of Yonkers, New York.