How Does the Spatial Distribution of Urban Growth Impact Crime Across Cities?

• In Event: Contexts of Convergence in the Study of Place and Crime

Abstract

A combination of neighborhood succession, aging buildings, downgraded establishments, and overall disinvestment are thought to result in higher crime neighborhoods. Less often considered is that the age of a neighborhood and the spatial distribution of new housing across a city may have important consequences for the location of crime. For example, rapid growth at the urban fringe combined with central city disinvestment and white flight might decrease the quality of older areas and subsequently inner-ring suburbs. Variation in the growth trajectories of cities across the US suggest that these processes may vary between fast-growing, mature, and decaying regions as well. Using FBI crime data at the city level and historical city boundaries constructed in a GIS environment, we conduct a cross-sectional (present-day) analysis of city-level crime across US cities. We consider aspects of neighborhood age including the age of the built environment and the quantity, and quality, and spatial distribution of new housing specifically. This work links perspectives of crime at multiple scales with neighborhood and city age to better understand the role of urban development history in the analysis of present-day crime patterns.

Authors

• Kevin Kane, University of California, Irvine

• John R. Hipp, University of California, Irvine