Multidimensionality in Geospatial Urban Crime Prevention Modelling and Decision Support: The Case of Porto, Portugal

Saraiva, Miguel Marinho; Marques, Teresa Sá; Ribeiro, Diogo; Amante, Ana

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-15108-8_9

Cited by 1 publication

(7 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Overall, studies on the relationship between crime and greenspaces have used less spatially supported analyses at the micro-level and more statistical correlations and regression models at the census block level [41,44,45]. The scale of analysis is an issue [44], and in many countries, for example Portugal, crime data availability at the micro-level is scarce [20]. The definition of urban greenspaces-which may range from street trees to large metropolitan parks-as well as the existence of distinct types of crime and the fact that crime patterns may also be related to socio-economic factors, can cause the measurement of a direct relationship between crime and greenspaces to be elusive [44].…”

Section: Crime Patterns and Greenspacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The formulation of a Criminology of Place [16] resulted from the previous theories, whilst also recognizing the increasing role of geography in crime studies, which significantly augmented from the 1970s [17] to the 21st century, as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) allowed greater potential in terms of data georeferencing, modelling, and analysis [18][19][20]. Weisburd et al [21] cemented the conceptualization of crime patterns as being heavily concentrated in hot spots, stable over time, and displaying large variability at the micro-scale, which led to the formulation of the Law of Crime Concentration [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, authors have been urging for a smarter aggregation of spatial data [23], by using the potentialities of GIS-led analysis to improve place-based approaches. However, this is not yet entirely widespread, due to a lack of know-how and also because there is often difficulty in collecting micro-scale crime data for research [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the pledges was that Porto would double the roughly 455 hectares of green and biodiverse space currently available to its residents. At the same time, Porto is one of the municipalities in Portugal with higher crime rates [20,35]. Most notable are several types of crimes against people, including against physical integrity and violence, and crimes against property, such as pickpocketing or car thefts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These combined reasons constitute the rationale for the exploratory research here presented, namely (i) the proven relevance that greenspaces assume in post-modern cities in general, to increase quality-of-life and well-being; (ii) the fact that, in particular, greenspace planning is part of the urban and tourism short-term strategy of Porto, one of the municipalities with higher crime rates in the country; (iii) the connections the literature has established between proximity to greenspaces and senses of (in)security; (iv) the fact that only very recently has spatial research on micro-scale crime patterns been conducted for Porto [20,36]; and finally, (v) as far as the authors are aware, no study of Porto has spatially correlated street crime patterns over time with distance to greenspaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Spatial Relationship between Street Crime Events and the Distribution of Urban Greenspace: The Case of Porto, Portugal

Saraiva,

Teixeira

2023

IJGI

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In post-pandemic, climate-changing societies, the presence of urban greenspace assumes paramount functions, at the same time that socio-economic crises and shocks augment vulnerabilities and insecurities. The recent literature on environmental criminology argues that the geography of crime is not random, and that the presence of greenery, due to its impact on well-being and the environment, can have positive associations with feeling safe; although the opposite effect can occur if spaces are not properly designed or maintained. In this paper, the case study of Porto, Portugal, is presented; one of the municipalities with higher crime rates, that also pledged to double the available greenspace in the near future. As a way to support decision-making, the aim of this study was to present an overall exploratory diagnosis of how street crime patterns, of different typologies, spatially co-exist with greenspaces. Using a 10-year street crime dataset at the segment level, descriptive quantitative methods with the support of GIS have been applied to plot crime’s spatial distribution over time, as well as the walking accessibility to greenspaces. The results confirm crime’s geographical non-randomness, with distinct categories occupying specific locations, even though there was a consistently proportional distribution in the different distance bands. On the contrary, the cumulative effect of the proximity to greenspaces was variable. Almost half of the city’s street crimes (46%) were within a 5 min walking distance of greenspaces, but they were much closer to smaller inner-city urban gardens, with higher densities of street crimes (hot spots), than to larger municipal parks, where lower densities (cold spots) were seen.

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