Identification of Environmental Design Methods and Techniques for Preventing Vandalism

Vandalism as a concept in the field of architecture means ‘conscious and constant destruction of public property’. Nowadays, this social deviancy is regarded as a complicated problem and a serious threat in many cities all around the world. Many methods and tools have been used in urban areas to prevent the occurrence of such vandalism. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce and distinguish this concept and investigate methods and techniques used in environmental and urban design, focusing on normative theory of environmental design. This theory aims to discover the most crucial aspects of quality that lead to forming resistant and stable spaces against vandalism. The findings of this paper show that the quality of elements such as ‘security’, ‘comfort’, ‘richness’, and ‘control ’ are considered to be the most important criteria for evaluating vandalism in urban spaces. For preventing this environmental destruction in public spaces, we can cite certain factors such creating defensible spaces, crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), improving the appearance of the environment, and enhancing the sense of public ownership and cooperation. Applying all these approaches in urban spaces leads to bringing a sense of affiliation to users of these spaces; in such a situation, a person feels a sense of belonging, duty, and ownership of the environment