Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find common ground between the theory of crime prevention by means of architecture and environment design and between the theory of sustainable development. The importance of creating a visually and environmentally friendly urban environment is shown as a means of involving people in the urban infrastructure, and, consequently, increasing the safety level.

Methodology/approach: The interdisciplinary approach based on knowledge of urban studies, architecture, town planning, criminology and sociology. The analysis of safety of the urban environment and foreign experience. Exploration of approaches and techniques for creating a safe urban environment based on foreign experience. Modern methods include architectural means, planning and environmental design: lighting, gardening, anti-vandal measures, safe building construction.

Research findings: The urban development indicates criminogenic and a relatively safe areas. The use of eco-friendly materials and architectural means is aimed at energy conservation and their positive impact on the urban environment as a whole. The identified aspects of the public safety, sustainable development, ecology and architecture include use of local natural materials or composites that can accumulate energy or respond to environmental changes; vandal-resistant materials; landscaping not only as a decoration, but also as a defense against criminal encroachments and en- vironmental improvement; more intensive planting in the urban structure to improve the environment.

Practical implications: Multi-storey apartments are more typical for large Russian cities like in South Korea. Due to their high density, such areas do not experience problems with accessibility and developed infrastructure, but control and security are more important. The reconstruction of existing or creation of new objects (building, park or area) consists of the following algorithm: collection of information about the site, analysis of analogs, the implementation of the selected principles, selection of appropriate tools and materials, and postproject research for quality assessment. The discussed examples can help in the building design and reconstruction. The proposed algorithm for assessing the safety of the urban environment can be introduced into the design process.

Originality/value: The value of research lies in the comparison of different concepts of safe built environment. A study of the foreign experience in the urban places and living environment. The paper makes an attempt to draw analogies between different types of multi-storey urban development and identifies the greatest criminality of this or that type of development. The paper provides an overview of the latest studies of the urban environment. For the first time, an attempt is made to adapt the principles of decriminalization to the specific features of the Russian cities. The paper suggests the reconstruction algorithm for the urban areas, taking into account the requirements of criminogenic safety, and proposes the principles of decriminalization.