Abstract

Research demonstrates that crime concentrates at relatively few microplaces, and changes at a small proportion of locations can have a considerable influence on a city’s overall crime level. Yet there is little research examining what accounts for change in crime at microplaces. This study examines the relationship between two mechanisms for place-based improvements – private investment in the form of building permits and public regulation in the form of municipal code enforcement – and yearly changes in crime at street segments. We use longitudinal data from six cities to estimate Spatial Durbin Models with block group and census tract by year fixed effects. Building permits and code enforcement are significantly associated with reductions in crime on street segments across all cities, with spatial diffusion of benefits to nearby segments. These findings suggest public safety planning should include efforts that incentivize and compel physical improvements to high crime microplaces.

摘要

研究表明，犯罪集中在相对较少的微小地点，而一小部分地点的变化可能对城市的整体犯罪水平产生相当大的影响。然而，很少有研究探讨微型场所犯罪变化的原因。本研究探讨了两种基于地点的改进机制（以建筑许可形式进行的私人投资和以市政法规执行形式进行的公共监管）与街道犯罪率的年度变化之间的关系。我们使用六个城市的纵向数据来估计具有街区组和人口普查区的空间杜宾模型（按年份固定效应）。建筑许可和法规执行与所有城市街道段犯罪的减少密切相关，并且利益在空间上扩散到附近的路段。