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Evidence Base Home » Community Violence » Rates of crime and fear of crime are associated with features of the physical environment within neighborhoods

Articles in Rates of crime and fear of crime are associated with features of the physical environment within neighborhoods.

  • Land use patterns that encourage neighborhood interaction and a sense of community have been shown not only to reduce crime, but also create a sense of community safety and security.

    Calhoun J. 2002. National Crime Prevention Council. New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Safe, Healthy, and Livable Communities. 2nd Annual Conference flyer.

  • Residents of building with green space had a stronger sense of community and reported less violence in dealing with domestic disputes.

    Jackson RJ, Kochitzky C. Creating a Healthy Environment: The Impact of the Built Environment on Public Health. Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse Monograph Series. Washington DC pp. 1-19.

  • Poor and inadequate housing is associated with increased risk for violence.

    PolicyLink. 2002. Reducing health disparities through a focus on communities. A PolicyLink Report. Oakland, CA.

  • A movement to prevent crime through environmental design has shown in evaluations to be successful in reducing robberies by 30-84%, depending on how many components of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) were implemented.

    Casteel C, Peek-Asa C. 2000. Effectiveness of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) in reducing robberies. Am J Prev Med 18:99-115.

  • One coalition that successfully shut down nearly 200 liquor stores documented an average 27% reduction in crime within a four block radius of each liquor store.

    Aboelata M. 2004. South Los Angeles, CA: Community coalition reduces violence and crime by closing neighborhood liquor stores. The Built Environment and Health: 11 Stories of Community Transformation. Prevention Institute. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.preventioninstitute.org/pdf/BE_Rochester_NY.pdf" http://www.preventioninstitute.org/pdf/BE_Rochester_NY.pdf

  • Density of liquor stores in an urban area accounted for 9% of the variability in assaultive violence. In one study in California, for every 6 additional alcohol outlets, there was one additional violent assault that resulted in at least one overnight stay in a hospital.

    Gruenewald PJ, Remer L. 2006. Changes in outlet densities affect violence rates. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 30(7):1184-1193.
    Reid RJ, Hughey J, Peterson NA. 2003. Generalizing the alcohol outlet-assaultive violence link: Evidence from a US Midwestern city. Substance Use & Misuse 38(14):1971-1982.

  • 'Incivilities' (abandoned buildings, overgrown lots, graffiti, loitering on corners, for example) leads to an increase in fear of crime and perceived crime. Some studies show that addressing incivilities leads to short term decreases in crime. Also initial incivilities lead to some change in serious crime over a long period.

    Taylor RB. The Incivilities or 'Broken Windows' Thesis. Department of Criminal Justice. Temple University. Philadelphia, PA.