Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and built-environmental manifestations in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

Households in Ghanaian cities have responded to crime by fortifying their houses, a practice referred to as crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Though little researched in Ghana and Africa in general, this article, based on in-depth interviews with police officers, city planners and community members as well as a household survey, reveal that CPTED through target hardening is a widespread practice across different socio-economic residential neighborhoods of Accra and Kumasi. It was found that rising crime rates and the fear of crime have led to adoption of target hardening measures such as high walls, metal burglar-proofed windows and doors, security doors/special door locks and so on, which tend to create 'security islands' with limited impact on community crime incidence. While CPTED has been widely applied in Western cities to restructure the physical layout of communities to reduce crime through community efforts, there are marked differences in the Ghanaian context. In particular, households' responses to crime through target hardening have the tendency in the long-term to weaken social cohesions, with limited impact on community crime levels. Interestingly, the household survey results show relatively low level of community solidarity in middle and upper-class neighborhoods as measures for fighting crime. © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.