background : : : abandoned buildings and crime

One way that I approached the question of how renovation affects crime is looking at crime in abandoned buildings before public money is spent on them. Abandoned houses detract from the aesthetic value of a neighborhood, but is there more crime?

Andres Power's senior thesis, "The Relationship of Crime and the Environment" discussed the co-occurance of crimes and abandoned houses. Power measured crime and found a disproportionate number within a 150ft radius of abandoned houses in a case study area in Providence.(10)

Urban crime has been the subject of much research and inquiry. A popular example in urban policy is the "broken window syndrome," a model described by Wilson and Kelling in 1982. They asserted that public incivilities such as graffiti, crime, destruction, attract even more crime because potential criminals assume that the neighbors are apathetic about the quality of their neighborhood.(11) In this sense, a vacant house might be a large-scale "broken window," in that it sends a message about the neighborhood and how policy-makers and neighbors value the properties there. The architect Oscar Newman suggests the idea of "defensible space" in urban areas - these are public spaces that are designed to allow neighbors to watch over and control the areas.(12) Defensible spaces are those that can be protected or watched by neighbors; abandoned houses are unprotected, since they are often unknown variables to neighbors.

Since the process of urban renewal began, abandoned houses continue to be a significant barrier to the revitalization of cities. Boarded-up, uncared-for properties might affect neighborhood vitality, crime prevention, and commercial vitality.(13) Abandoned properties attract squatters, drug use, and vandalism in the neighborhood.

But what about renovated buildings and crime? [Click here for more information]