Boris Johnson formally launched his campaign to be elected mayor of London this week by claiming design could play a crucial role in reducing gang crime.



“Design has a key role in a New York-style ‘broken windows’ strategy on crime”

Boris Johnson


Speaking on Monday about the 27 teenagers killed in the capital last year by gun and knife crime, the Tory candidate said that if elected, he would make designing out crime a priority in the London Plan, the mayor’s spatial development strategy.

“We should make sure all new building in London is designed to make crime more difficult; that means no more vulnerable walkways or dimly lit stairwells, no more repetition of past mistakes,” he said, following a walkabout in the London Borough of Enfield.

He later told BD: “Design has a key role to play… in a New York-style ‘broken windows’ strategy on crime.” New York clamped down on such minor misdemeanors, which had a knock-on effect of reducing all crime figures.

Johnson added that social housing should be “properly designed and maintained” to create barriers between public and private space, without allowing public space to go unsupervised.

Richard Brindley, RIBA executive director of professional services, said the institute welcomed moves to reduce the opportunity for crime, but warned: “It’s not as simplistic as dimly lit stairwells — it’s about integrated design.”

Mayor Ken Livingstone declined to comment.