SafeGrowth® History

SafeGrowth was developed by Gregory Saville based on decades of criminological research and consulting work in crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), urban safety and policing, including the formation of the International CPTED Association in Calgary in 1996. 

SafeGrowth was launched at the June, 2007 Canadian Institute of Planners annual convention in Quebec City, Canada. Three months later it was presented to the International Conference on the State of Safety in World Cities 2007, Monterrey Forum of Cultures, Monterrey, Mexico, in September. In November, as a result of pioneering work by the Latin American chapter of the ICA, SafeGrowth was unveiled to the United Nations Habitat program in Santiago, Chile in the International IberoAmerican Forum on Experiences of Neighborhood Recovery. ​​

​Since its launch in Canada and the first full training in Seattle back in 2007 (pictures on the left) the SafeGrowth method has now been adopted across a number of neighborhoods in North America and was in 2014 also first introduced in New Zealand and Australia, and in 2019 in Europe.  ​

Since 2007 the SafeGrowth® method has been adopted in neighborhoods across North America, New Zealand, Australia and Europe.