Urban design for a safe city: A critical review of Kuala Lumpur

Urban safety poses a serious challenge for urban planners as urbanisation escalates in developing countries such as Malaysia. Several approaches have been adopted in coping with street crimes in Malaysia but the results are often less than satisfactory. The Safe City Programme highlighted by the Federal Department of Town and Country Planning Peninsular Malaysia [JPBD] in 2004 outlined 15 steps in creating a safe city one of which was the designing of the physical environment that can prevent crime. This study identifies the urban design elements that were purported to help reduce street crimes in Kuala Lumpur using the information records published by the Royal Malaysia Police. Several steps are then proposed to improve the urban environmental design for reducing the incidence of street crime, including spatial arrangement, traffic and accessibility, lighting, safety devices (CCTV, panic buttons, safety mirrors, warning signages), surveillance, and maintenance.