Changing spatial tolerance to the exposure of crime?

• In Event: WG-PLACE 4: Research on crime, place and time

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped (at least temporarily) the urban condition. The use of ‘lockdowns’, designed to restrict the spread of the virus, did not necessarily serve to change the functioning of cities but they certainly served to change the routine activities of their citizenry. People spent more time at home and in their immediate neighbourhoods. This step change in urban living has been associated with sharp changes in both the volume and spatial patterning of crime. Whilst the lockdowns have ended and cities have strived to reopen, the citizenry has not (as of yet) returned to a pre-pandemic way of urban living. Perhaps through choice and perhaps also through consequence of the cost-of-living crisis, people continue to spend more of their time at home and in their neighbourhood. This is reflected in the associated persistence of the spatial re-ordering of crime brought about by the use of lockdowns. Building on these insights this paper seeks to explore whether changes to urban living have led to the citizenry being more or less tolerant of crime (by type). We achieve this by integrating calls-for-service and crime data, and through consideration of the neighbourhood settings in which calls-for-service are made. Ultimately, this analysis enables us to probe the question as to whether the changing routines of the citizenry has served to heighten the significance of social (dis)organisation in both the spatial patterning and reporting of crime.

Authors

• Monsuru Adepeju, Manchester Metropolitan University, M15 6BH, United Kingdom

• Jon Bannister, Manchester Metropolitan University

• Mark Ellison, Manchester Metropolitan University

• Karolina Krzemieniewska-Nandwani, Manchester Metropolitan University