Security by Design: 10 Rules of Thumb

On behalf of the Urban Agenda for the EU Partnership on Security in Public Spaces, DSP has been developing guidance material for architectural and spatial design, or the Security by Design (SbD) process. The partnership on Security in Public Spaces started in January 2019 with the purpose to ensure better exchange of knowledge and practices between cities, and better regulation and funding at the European level to support security-related actions and innovations.

Security by Design (SbD) has the potential to contribute to cities safety and security. These are complex and multi-faceted issues, which is why a SbD-based approach builds on various notions, principles and approaches, making its implementation challenging. Moreover, SbD is an innovative practice in which local and regional authorities, to date, often have little experience and/or expertise. That is why guidance material, in form of a basic set of ‘rules of thumb’ of this approach needed to be developed to support effective implementation. While showing considerable overlap, the ten rules of thumb also function well on their own. Each rule briefly explains the elements listed below, thereby giving insight on how to include safety and security considerations into the planning, design, and management of urban spaces:

• Why (the purpose): An explanation on what the need is for the implementation of the rule, and why does it need to be executed.
• How (the process): Specific actions to be taken in order to address the need and what the expected results and/or achievements would be of the actions.
• Examples and Resources: A list of examples of best practice of the specific rule, as well as suggestions for additional reading material, institutions, and sources that could give more information.

Together the ten rules form the acronym “SecureCity”. More information can be found on the Urban Agenda website. You can read our report on this page.