2008-11-05 P & R Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 · all so called "normal" users of the environment -- people who you want to be there (according to CPTED's definition}-always act in a positive way, and · all so called "abnormal" users - those you do not want to be in that space-always act in a negative way such as when loiterers actually do patronize a store. This routinely accounts for scenarios where a single individual can alternate between being a normal and abnormal user such as when a skateboarder on plaza property decides to get off his skateboard and patronize a convenience store, only to get back on his skateboard and skateboard where prohibited on his way to a skateboard park. Recognizing that this is not unusual behaviour given people's natural tendency to regularly bend or break the rules, behavioural based designers simply focus on whether the behaviour is desired or not without making a judgment about the perceived nature of the source. Support for this perspective can be inferred from Clarke who concludes that "the image of the predator from outside, which underlies the original defensible space thesis (and Crowe's guidelines), ignores the fact that much crime is committed by residents and other legitimate users of the space."4 By focusing on behaviour, as opposed to user types, behavioural based designers can overcome the CPTED bias towards abnormal users. The Probability of Behaviour -- Proposition No.1 The quintessential notion that behaviour can be predicted is consistent with lessons learned from environmental criminology. This may ultimately result in the incidence of behaviour being quantified with the aid of a yet to be developed mathematical equation. Until that day arrives and behavioural based design achieves its ultimate potential and moves into the realm of a genuine science, behavioural based designers should be content to use their knowledge, instincts, and observations to determine whether the probability of a behaviour is high, low or intermediate. Behavioural Based Profiling -- Propositions 2 through 6 The process by which desircd or unwanted behaviours arc identified, analyzed and understood can be characterized as behavioural based profiling. This process begins in a CPTED like manner by relying on observations and interviews with stakeholders to gather information about how any given property and/or enterprise is intended to work. From there, core behaviours that the stakeholders see as relevant to the success or failure of what they are trying to accomplish are identified and behaviours are broken down into desired, supportive or unwanted categories. Once this has been established, a clear understanding as to why the desired or unwanted behaviour or activity happens or is expected in a particular setting is sought. At its most basic level, behaviour can be instinctive or almost herd-like as people simply react to their environment such as when they follow a desire line that takes the shortest distance between two points.