The roles of built environment and social disadvantage on the geography of property crime

The neighborhood environment plays an essential role in shaping the geography of property crime. However, criminologists and planners hold different views on the role of built environmental characteristics such as neighborhood permeability. Meanwhile, the consequence of social disadvantage has not been adequately considered along with built environmental measurements. We revisit the debate using the 2017 data from Dallas and Fort Worth, TX. Following a context-based theoretical framework, we use enhanced measurements of neighborhood characteristics to examine the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and property crime. The results of the geographically weighted negative binomial regression show that commercial and mixed land-use development, number of transit facilities, and alcohol-related establishments are positively associated with property crime rate, all else being equal. Neighborhoods with a higher per capita income exhibit a higher property crime rate. Neighborhoods with a higher percentage of Blacks/African Americans and a lower level of educational attainment tend to register a higher property crime rate. This research points to several areas for future studies.