About this Event
According to prominent theories, crime is a function of opportunity: crimes take place when offenders encounter targets, and so understanding where these encounters take place provides crucial insight into the distribution of crime.
Furthermore, since many of these encounters will take place during individuals’ regular routine activities, understanding where these activities take place – and overlap – is a key concern. In light of these principles, a natural object of study is the street network. Street networks define many of the fundamental structural features of urban areas – the arrangement of buildings and facilities, the paths required to travel between places, and the visibility of urban features – and so shape these routine activities.
This talk will present findings from a number of studies which have examined the relationship between measurable structural properties of street networks and criminal activities. It will be shown that metrics which capture the likely usage levels of streets during routine travel are predictive of overall crime risk, and that dynamic patterns of crime (e.g. near-repeat victimisation) can also be predicted by network properties. Finally, the role of street networks in the placement of illegitimately-operating businesses – that is, those operating at the intersection of legal and illicit activity – will be examined. The talk will end by discussing the practical relevance of the findings for crime prevention, and opportunities for refinement of the work.
Toby Davies is Associate Professor in Criminal Justice Data Analytics at the University of Leeds. He is a quantitative criminologist, and his research interests include the modelling of crime patterns in space and time, the influence of urban structure on the distribution of crime, and network analysis.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Worsley SR 8.49n, Leeds, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00