NCJ Number
87682
Date Published
1981
Length
28 pages
Annotation
Since criminals do not behave randomly, examination of urban spatial structure and how people interact with that structure permits predictions regarding the spatial distribution of crime and explanations of some of the variations in crime among urban areas.
Abstract
Eight hypothetical cases developed from empirical literature and inductive principles permit some generalizations about crime patterns. Thus, older cities with a generally concentric zonal form and with a dense core will have a crime pattern which clusters toward the core. Newer cities with a mosaic urban form will have a more dispersed crime pattern. However, new cities with dispersed shopping and much strip commercial development have a higher potential for property crime. The development of major transportation arteries leads to a concentration of crime close to the highways, especially near major intersections. Areas with grid networks generally have higher potential crime rates than areas with organic street layouts. Older cities with dispersed low-income housing and public transit will probably have a concentration of crime around the core and nodes of higher crime around the low income housing areas. The shifting of work areas out of core areas into fringe areas of a city will tend to increase crime in suburban areas. Major entertainment complexes such as sports arenas are likely to produce localized associated increases in crime. While 'red light' districts tend to have concentrations of crime, dispersing the activities which cluster in these districts will not necessarily reduce the total crime, although it should change the spatial patterning of crime. References are listed at the end of the volume of which this paper is part, in a bibliography containing 380 sources.