Crime Prevention through Environmental Design: A Case Study of Thammasat University Rangsit Campus

Abstract

Crime is considered as one of the major social problems in Thailand that causes huge impacts to society. In order for a crime to occur, three elements must coincide; desire, ability, and opportunity. Therefore, crime prevention method can be done by reducing crime opportunity as other factors; desire and ability cannot be controlled by an external party. According to the Royal Thai Police (2019), the demographic data indicated that Pathum Thani is the second most unsafe district in the Bangkok and Metropolitan Region (BMR) after Bangkok. The researcher, therefore, chose a part of Thammasat University Rangsit campus which consists of a residential, recreational and commercial zone as the study area for this research.

Mapping and overlay analysis are used as an analytical tool to identify an unsafe location. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to identify both physical and non-physical attributes associated with such unsafe locations. The results of the analysis illustrate that the area at the back of the main stadium is the most unsafe place when considering physical and non-physical attributes. On the other hands, considering user’s experiences, the area around Laan Payanak are seen to be the most unsafe place as well as is known of being a crime location. According to our survey, the correspondents strongly agree that lighting illumination on pedestrian walkway contributes to their feeling of fear for crime the most. The result from the AHP also shows that users choose the lighting issue as the first priority as well.

Recommendations for urban design guideline for crime prevention include (1) changing the pedestrian lights to allow better lighting and visibility of the users (2) encouraging more activities on the area of Laan Payanak to crowd the area, giving more security to people in the area (3) providing gate, operation time sign at every entrance to control the accessibility of each area and route, and (4) providing emergency equipment and information for self-help or calling for help.