The Grass is Always Greener: Analyzing Crime Concentration and Specialization in Urban Greenspace Environs

Objective: to identify the level of crime in urban greenspaces  and their correclation with certain crime types.

Methods: dialectical approach to cognition of social phenomena, allowing to analyze them in historical development and functioning in the context of the totality of objective and subjective factors, which predetermined the following research methods: formal-logical and sociological.

Results: greenspaces play an important role in the urban landscape, with prior research suggesting that they are associated with numerous health and social benefits for residents. Despite this, research conflicts regarding the relationship between greenspaces and crime, with some studies finding these locations to be criminogenic and others finding them to be protective against local crime. This study examines this relationship in Portland, Oregon, considering different greenspace types as well as different crime types.

Scientific novelty: this study presents a novel methodological adaption to measure crime concentration and specialization around discrete location types by integrating a street network buffer into the standard Location Quotient (LQ) metric. Results suggest that Portland’s greenspaces as a whole do not experience a concentration of crime; however, varying patterns emerge when examining different greenspace and crime types. This study identifies diverse crime concentrations in proximity to small parks, while finding other greenspace categories to be associated with crime-specific concentrations nearby. Others, still, have lower than expected counts of crime concentrating nearby, potentially demonstrating protective trends. These results highlight the importance of disaggregating both crime and location types to better understand the complex relationship between greenspaces and crime.

Practical significance: the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific, pedagogical and law enforcement activities when considering the issues related to minimizing crime on the territory of urban green spaces.

The article was first published in English language by Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society and The Western Society of Criminology Hosting by Scholastica. For more information please contact: CCJLS@WesternCriminology.org

For original publication: Hodgen, Ch., & Wuschke, K. (2023). The Grass is Always Greener: Analyzing Crime Concentration and Specialization in Urban Greenspace Environs. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, 24(1), 19–37.

Publication URL: https://ccjls.scholasticahq.com/article/73940-the-grass-is-always-greener-analyzing-crime-concentration-andspecialization-in-urban-greenspace-environs

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