A Weighted Displacement Quotient model for understanding the impact of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design: Evidence from Seoul, South Korea

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), a crime prevention tool, on reducing rates of sexual assault. In addition, the study attempts to understand if CPTED results in crime displacement in non-target areas.

This research utilizes a Weighted Displacement Quotient (WDQ) model to analyze the effects of CPTED, which is an appropriate tool in fields of regional-scale crime prevention and on sexual assault prevention. WDQ is capable of analyzing policy effectiveness while controlling for geographical crime displacement, a known side effect of CPTED in the literature.

The analysis results show that CPTED is an effective tool to prevent sexual assaults in South Korea. The sexual assault occurrence rate decreased in the CPTED implementation zone of Yeomri-dong Mapo-gu. WDQ showed that crime displacement occurred in adjacent areas in Daeheung-dong and Ahyun-dong. But, crime displacement was lower than the policy effectiveness in the target zone.

The policy implications of this research are immense. First, CPTED for the prevention of sexual assaults should be considered as a pre-control tool. Second, a strategic method for more effectively implementing CPTED is required. Third, because CPTED is a policy done on a regional scale, provisions need to be in place to manage crime displacement.