By Donna R. Tabangin
Light That Transforms

CITIES in the Philippines and in other countries are ranked according to the quality of life they offer to their residents.

Among the relevant aspects of quality of life are the social welfare of the people, quality of living environment, local amenities, and peace and order.

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Crime, therefore, has an impact in determining whether our cities have successfully developed or have succumbed to the ills of urbanization.

The past two decades have seen the advancement of the idea that places may act as precursors to anti-social behavior.

Environmental sociologists and criminologists have posited that there is a link between criminal behavior and physical or social space. They argue that crime must be viewed in the context of the place where it occurs because it presents bigger or lesser opportunities for criminal behavior.

Crime prevention efforts can, therefore, thus be reoriented from the traditional socio-demographic characteristics of offenders to the manipulation of the built environment in order to reduce the opportunities for crime.

The "designing out" of crime is prompting architects, planners, developers, and policymakers to review the direction and state of urban development.

From 2007 to 2008, a study that identified the environmental attributes that affect human behavior in different places was conducted under the Saint Louis University Research Grant and its Belgian counterpart, the VLIR-PIUC.

Pursuing the ecological theory that design influences how people think and feel in a place, and ultimately how they behave, the researchers used the crime data from 2004 to 2007 provided by the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) in order to determine crime patterns within the Central Business District (CBD).

Crime mapping was performed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), satellite Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and satellite imageries.

A crime database was generated and subjected to GIS statistical algorithms in order to geographically visualize the crime patterns in the CBD. The identified crime "hotspots" were visited and observed and their physical attributes identified which may have encouraged crime.

Theft, robbery, and physical injuries have been identified as the top three crimes in the CBD, which have consistently occurred in a number of select places over the four-year period.

Other crimes (e.g. murder, rape, etc.) were comparatively few and too dispersed to provide usable and address-specific hotspot computations. The physical attributes that were observed to somehow influence criminality were: building design, land use and circulation pattern, territorial signage, and physical deterioration and disorder.

In September last year, the results of this study were presented and turned over to Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista Jr. and BCPO Chief Wilfredo Franco. As an offshoot, 10 police personnel were trained on basic GIS and crime mapping. The study was also presented in an international conference on urban renewal and rejuvenation in Beijing, China the following month.

Traffic patterns and land use mixes may encourage or discourage the commission of crime. Since jeepney terminals are movement generators, a physical change in circulation pattern such as separating them from crime generators and undesirable establishments (such as bars, liquor stores, inns) and crowded areas (market, commercial and retail places) may help reduce crime.

Signs of caring and proprietorship give signals to outsider that the owners are concerned with their space and are vigilant about what is happening within their properties. Improving and redeveloping areas - that are physically deteriorated, unsafe or poorly planned, areas with graffiti and trash, or those with beggars, drunkards and itinerant vendors - may lead to places that will be safer as well as the neighborhood's viability. Incorporating patrolling guards or policemen or the installation of CCTV cameras will add to the sense of control in the area.

Editor's Note: For inquiries about this study, you may visit or call Arch. Donna.R. Tabangin and Engr. Jacqueline C. Flores at the Engineering and Urban Planning Research Laboratory, College of Engineering and Architecture, 5th floor, Otto Hahn building, Bonifacio St., Baguio City, or call tels. (074) 444-8246 (to 48 & 53) locals 242 and 243; or send email to don_rillera@yahoo.com.ph or jcflores@slu.edu.ph.

Until next Friday, God bless!