Understanding the Multi-level Interactions Between Physical Environment and Neighborhood Characteristics in Assessing Vulnerability to Crime in Micro-places

Spatial crime risk assessment is based on the identification of the environmental conditions that could facilitate crime. Previous applications of this approach mainly rely on single-level analyses neglecting that different contextual factors are likely to influence crime at different geographical levels and to interact with one another in defining crime risk. This study proposes to innovate this approach by using a multi-level analysis and estimating the interaction terms among environmental features and neighborhood characteristics. An empirical test is conducted in a large urban area. The results prove that this method significantly increases the predictive capacity and favors more complete interpretations of the underlying criminogenic mechanisms, thus orienting more effective consequential actions.

Geographical Juxtaposition: A New Direction in CPTED

This paper explores Oscar Newman’s Defensible Space (1972) concept of geographical juxtaposition (GJ) highlighting a significant lack of research within the criminological literature over the last 50 years. We argue the concept is a key foundation in understanding crime and crime prevention theories and in developing crime prevention strategies. Findings from a systematic review of the literature are presented to illustrate the paucity of research into geographical juxtaposition. We develop and extend the concept of geographical juxtaposition beyond that originally coined by Newman to include all immediate, local, distant, and remote environmental (physical) factors. Additionally, we demonstrate, by reference to practical criminological situations, the significant and extensive role of our revised concept of geographical juxtaposition. In particular, we point to the way that focusing on geographical juxtaposition identifies serious problems in many taken-for-granted assumptions in planning theory and practice. In exploring the concept of geographical juxtaposition, we highlight ten ways it can affect crime risks and six ways using geographical juxtaposition can benefit efforts to apply crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) more successfully when conducting a crime risk assessment. Finally, this paper briefly discusses four new CPTED principles, which emerge from our exploration of geographical juxtaposition. We identify new classes of CPTED methods and new ways of analyzing crime and offer the basis for new criminological theories.