Cityscape Explores Crime and Urban Form

Cityscape Explores Crime and Urban Form

The final issue of Cityscape for 2011 features a symposium that examines crime and urban form. Guest editor Ronald E. Wilson presents a small sample of research illustrating the use of geographic analysis as a means of better understanding crime in relation to urban development patterns.

Tony H. Grubesic, Alan T. Murray, and Elizabeth A. Mack explore the effects of place-based policies that restrict where sex offenders live. Philip W. Harris, Jeremy Mennis, Zoran Obradovic, Alan J. Izenman, and Heidi E. Grunwald examine the interaction between juveniles, the neighborhoods where they live, and the recidivism programs they participate in. Joel M. Caplan discusses the geographic factors that link crime with nearby crimes. Roderick W. Jones and Derek J. Paulsen evaluate the effects of resident relocation as a result of a HOPE VI program in Lexington, Kentucky. Meagan Cahill studies the displacement of crime as a result of a HOPE VI redevelopment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Washington, DC. Michael C. Lens, Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Katherine O’Regan evaluate whether Housing Choice Voucher program participants move to safer neighborhoods. Mike O’Leary concludes the symposium articles by illustrating how to mathematically model urban geography to understand how urban structure affects criminal behavior. To complement the symposium, three articles provide commentary on crime and the structure of urban geography in Canada (Patricia Brantingham), Colombia (Leandro Ramos), and South Africa (Peter M. U. Schmitz, Tinus Kruger, and Antony K. Cooper, respectively).

The issue also features short analytical works, including “Graphic Detail: Visualizing Racial Segregation Differently: Exploring Geographic Patterns in Context” by Ronald E. Wilson; “A Beginner’s Guide To Creating Small-Area Cross-Tabulations” by Haydar Kurban, Ryan Gallagher, Gulriz Aytekin Kurban, and Joseph Persky; and “The Impact of Home Energy Retrofit Loan Insurance: A Pilot Program” by Alastair McFarlane.