Urban diversity comes with crime, but crime doesn’t come with diversity

Abstract

This thesis investigates whether mapping urban diversity, density, and certain compositions of types of uses can help predict and prevent certain types of crime in urban neighborhoods. Little research is available on the influence of urban diversity on crime. Through literature research, mediating variables like social surveillance and economic growth are found. Data analysis is used to find and test correlations which could be beneficial for city planning ultimately preventing crime. The aspect of mixed use neighborhoods is explored, which is important for the quality of life based on urban diversity by Jane Jacobs. The neighborhoods of Amsterdam will be used to test several hypotheses based on the work of Jane Jacobs. The hypotheses are based on the influence of urban diversity, density and composition of types of uses on certain types of crime and crime in general. One such hypothesis is that urban diverse neighborhoods will have lower overall crime rates but these dense areas may prove beneficial for certain types of crime like pickpocketing. Explorative research has also been conducted by the hand of found anomalies in crime types. Made maps and scatterplots are used to find potential correlations, which are then tested on significance by calculating the Pearson correlation. The results are compared to other big Dutch cities to see if correlations are citybound or hold up nationally. Urban diversity is important for creating vibrant and livable areas, but precisely these vibrant areas appear to attract the most crime.