摘要：Providing a safe and secure environment is a major factor in shopping center
management and design. The theory of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
(CPTED) provides one theoretical approach to preventing crime and feeling of insecurity in
shopping centers. The present paper formulates a path model based on CPTED-theory to
investigate the links between formal and informal surveillance, customers’ and employees’
feeling of security, and competitiveness of shopping centers. The data for this paper was
collected among shopping centers in four Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, and
Sweden. A total of 68 shopping center managers answered an Internet survey in 2009. Data was
analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study revealed that informal
surveillance (e.g. clean and well-lighted shopping environment) had positive impact on
customers’ or employees’ feeling of security. However, formal surveillance (e.g. security guards
and surveillance cameras) had no impact on customers’ or employees’ feeling of security.
However, formal surveillance had impact on competitiveness of the shopping center directly, and
also through consumers’ and employees’ feeling of security. Overall, the study shows that both
formal and informal surveillance are important for competitiveness of a shopping center.
