Maslow's Hierarchy Of Human Needs Essay

1. Introduction

“The safety of the people shall be the highest law” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (figure 1) shows that along with the physiological needs, the basic human needs also include Safety and Security needs, and there lies the importance of considering safety and security through design. In order to live a life that is unlikely to be taken away prematurely, we must have a sufficient level of protection in place. This explains our desire as humans for a neighbourhood that is safe to reside in, health care and insurance, some form of shelter, and a job that is secure and pays enough for us to live properly. Figure 1 – Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (source: http://www.teach-nology.com)

Throughout

iii) Opportunity – Criminal’s opportunity to commit crimes. Prevention of crime can be done at this level. By removing the opportunity of criminals to conduct the crime, we can attain crime prevention.

Figure 3- Crime prevention triangle (source: http://www.salinasneighborsunited.org/)

5. Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) - (By Ray Jeffrey -1971)

The major concept of this theory is that crime results partly from the opportunities presented by the physical environment; thereby we can reduce the chance of crime by changing the physical environment. CPTED is a specialized theory, to produce behavioral effects that will reduce the fear and incidence of certain types of criminal acts. The concept was developed by the city of Virginia Beach’s CPTED committee to be used as a tool for planners and design professionals to build a “Quality Physical Environment” with the idea of reducing opportunity for crime to occur.

According to CPTED, while doing the development assessment process we should consider the following generic elements.

a. Casual surveillance opportunities and sightlines

b. Landscape

c. Land use mix and activity generators

d. Exterior building