Defensible Space on the Move

Mobilisation in English Housing Policy and Practice

By: Loretta Lees, Elanor Warwick

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Hardcover | 18 February 2022 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.04

Hardcover

$137.45

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Both theoretically informed and empirically rich, Defensible Space makes an important conceptual contribution to policy mobilities thinking, to policy and practice, and also to practitioners handling of complex spatial concepts.

Critically examines the geographical concept Defensible Space, which has been influential in designing out crime to date, and has been applied to housing estates in the UK, North America, Europe and beyond
Evaluates the movement/mobility/mobilisation of defensible space from the US to the UK and into English housing policy and practice
Explores the multiple ways the concept of defensible space was interpreted and implemented, as it circulated from national to local level and within particular English housing estates
Critiquing and pushing forwards work on policy mobilities, the authors illustrate for the first time how transfer mechanisms worked at both a policy and practitioner level
Drawing on extensive archival research, oral histories and in-depth interviews, this important book reveals defensible space to be ambiguous, uncertain in nature, neither proven or disproven scientifically

Industry Reviews

‘Design against crime? What could be better! This compelling story of where ‘defensible space’ came from, how the idea has changed, and what difference it has made to cities and social life is unputdownable. It turns on a riveting account of the individuals who championed (and some who resisted) the concept – a band of unlikely influencers whose mix of conviction, charisma and common sense became embedded in domestic space.’
Susan J. Smith, Mistress of Girton College and Honorary Professor of Social and Economic Geography, University of Cambridge, UK

‘This book by Loretta Lees and Elanor Warwick is essentially a great detective story – a whodunnit of how allegedly research-based theory can translate into policy and ultimately into accepted practice. There is a cast of many well-known characters whose interaction on the question of whether physical determinism can affect human behaviour is rich and fascinating. With planning and urban design again at the centre of politics, this book is an essential source.’
Ben Derbyshire, Chair of HTA Design LLP, Former Past President of RIBA and Historic England Commissioner

‘Rarely do I savour a book with such enthusiasm, absorbed by the detail and delighted by the presentation. This is the missing text that I have craved – a text that explains, in meticulous detail, how the rather abstract concept of Defensible Space managed to jump the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge and successfully embed itself into practice.’
Rachel Armitage, Professor of Criminology, University of Huddersfield, UK

‘Defensible Space on the Move is a fine historiography based on meticulous research and a forensic investigative approach to its subject matter. The book will appeal to a broad readership, including academic researchers, policy makers, students, and lay people. The book is seminal in its careful documentation, and discussion, of one of the more important ideas about what the good city is or ought to be. Through a careful assembling of material, the authors have elevated, and enhanced, the understanding about policy mobilities, in which the fluid, often contradictory, and messy nature of practice is highlighted.’
Rob Imrie (reviewing in Buildings & Cities)

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