Journal article
Alleyways and crime in Denver, Colorado census blocks
Cities, Vol.151, 105138
08/2024
DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2024.105138
Abstract
An alley is a narrow passageway between or behind buildings, which allows for pedestrian or vehicular activities. It follows that there are competing expectations for how this characteristic of the built environment shapes crime in geographic units. The fundamental tenets of environmental criminology suggest that alleys might breed crime problems because of their ability to increase criminal opportunities. On the other hand, the foundational principles of New Urbanism suggest that alleys might have the opposite effect to the extent that alleys operate as social conduits and foment social capital. Accordingly, for the present study, we conduct a block analysis of crime, alleys, land uses, and sociodemographic characteristics in Denver, Colorado. We estimate negative binomial regression models of both violent and property crime and find strong evidence for the environmental criminology perspective, with the effects of alleyways being relatively strong juxtaposed to other covariates in the models. We also find that various factors, including ethnic heterogeneity, retail and commercial space, and surrounding poverty, moderate the effect of the presence of an alley. The implications of these findings for criminology, urban studies, and public policy are discussed.
•Environmental criminology and new urbanism perspectives are used to theorize.•We conduct a block analysis of crime, alleys, land uses, and sociodemographic characteristics in Denver, Colorado.•We observe significant main and moderating effects of alleys, consistent with environmental criminology.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Alleyways and crime in Denver, Colorado census blocks
- Creators
- James C. Wo - Department of Sociology and Criminology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, USAYoung-An Kim - Florida State UniversityMark T. Berg - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Cities, Vol.151, 105138
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cities.2024.105138
- ISSN
- 0264-2751
- eISSN
- 1873-6084
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/2024
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology; Center for Social Science Innovation; Injury Prevention Research Center; Public Policy Center (Archive); School of Planning and Public Affairs
- Record Identifier
- 9984634948402771
Metrics
28 Record Views