Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

Hot Spots of Bus Stop Crime

Abstract This study focused on bus stop crime and sought to identify the environmental attributes that can affect the bus riders security while at the bus stop. Following the argument of criminologists that certain place characteristics can affect the incidence of crime, the study used direct observation, mapping, interviews, and surveys to examine the physical and social environment around the 10 most crime-ridden bus stops in Los Angeles during 1994 and 1995. It found an abundance of “negative” environmental attributes and a general lack of “defensible space” elements. It also found that different types of crime tend to occur under different environmental conditions. The use of four control cases of low-crime bus stops in matched pairs with four high-crime bus stops in close proximity showed that the low-crime bus stops typically lacked “negative” environmental attributes, while offering better surveillance opportunities from surrounding establishments. The article discusses design responses as an appr...

Is it Safe to Walk?1 Neighborhood Safety and Security Considerations and Their Effects on Walking:

The importance of walking and physical activity as determinants of good health has been well established in the medical and public health literature, but a significant number of Americans live sedentary lifestyles. Aplethora of variables lie behind an individual’s decision to walk, cycle, or exercise. This article focuses on a particular environmental variable, the safety of neighborhood surroundings, and explores how it is influencing physical activity. It integrates literatures from public health, criminology, and planning to identify, qualify, and evaluate the link between safety and security considerations and physical activity. It then proceeds to place safety and security concerns within a spatial context and to examine design and policy interventions that can help create environments more amenable to walking.

The Geography of Transit Crime: Documentation and Evaluation of Crime Incidence on and around the Green Line Stations in Los Angeles

The link between the social and physical environment and transit crime is an important one, but it is not well understood or explored. This study explores the environmenttransit crime connection by examining in depth the relation between crime incidence at the stations along a light-rail line in Los Angeles and the social and physical characteristics of the stations and their neighborhoods. The study employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze crime statistics, census and ridership data, and built environment data. It documents and evaluates the geography of crime along this light-rail line as well as the impact of sociodemographic and environmental attributes on crime incidence at the station.

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND URBAN REVITALIZATION A survey of US cities

Municipal governments around the globe increasingly turn to museums, performing arts centers, arts districts, and other cultural activities to promote and revitalize their cities. While a significant body of literature examines revitalization strategies that focus primarily around entertainment and commerce, the empirical body of research that specifically investigates the role of cultural strategies in urban redevelopment is still growing. This paper first discusses the development of municipal cultural strategies in the United States, and draws from the literature to outline the characteristics of three different models of such strategies. Second, the paper presents findings from a national survey distributed to municipal agencies involved in the promotion and development of cultural activities and facilities in large and medium‐sized US cities. The survey data indicate that although most agencies are guided by a varied set of goals, entrepreneurial objectives continue to guide the development and support of cultural activities in most cities.

Crime Prevention and Active Living

This paper addresses the question of whether crime is a barrier to active living and if it is, what can be done about it? The authors introduce a theoretical model that addresses how crime might influence physical activity behavior. The core components of the model are: situational characteristics, crime and disorder, fear of crime or disorder, and physical activity. These variables are thought to be moderated through psychological, demographic, environmental and other factors. Research questions that derive from the model are featured.

Urban Form and Social Context: Cultural Differentiation in the Uses of Urban Parks:

The paper examines four case studies of neighborhood parks in socially and ethnically diverse communities of Los Angeles in order to explore similarities and differences of their uses and assigned meanings. More specifically, the study utilizes structured field observations and surveys of users in order to examine sociocultural patterns of park use, the relevance of past models of park design, and the level of fit between current park form and contemporary user needs.

Death on the Crosswalk: A Study of Pedestrian-Automobile Collisions in Los Angeles

This research explores the spatial distribution of pedestrian-automobile collisions in Los Angeles and analyzes the social and physical factors that affect the risk of getting involved in such collisions. More specifically, this study investigates the influence of socio-demographic, land use, density, urban form, and traffic characteristics on pedestrian collision rates. We first provide an exploratory spatial and statistical analysis of pedestrian collision data in the city of Los Angeles to identify preliminary relationships between the frequency of collisions and socio-demographic and land use characteristics at the census tract level. This aggregate level analysis points to major concentrations of pedestrian collision data which are used at a second stage of the research for more qualitative and detailed analysis of specific case studies of intersections with high frequency of pedestrian collisions.

BUS STOP-ENVIRONMENT CONNECTION: DO CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT CORRELATE WITH BUS STOP CRIME?

Can we understand why some bus stops are safe and others are crimeridden? Can we predict which features of the bus stop environment are likely to encourage or discourage crime? Can we design safer bus stops? These questions are addressed by exploring the relationship between environmental variables and bus stop crime. An earlier study used crime data, along with environmental indicators, for a sample of 60 bus stops in downtown Los Angeles. Crime rates were higher for bus stops near alleys, multifamily housing, liquor stores and check-cashing establishments, vacant buildings, and graffiti and litter. In contrast, good visibility of the bus stop from its surroundings and the existence of bus shelters contributed to lower crime rates. This earlier study was indicative but not predictive of the elements that contribute to bus stop crime. With the geographic and temporal expansion of the data (covering a larger city part over a longer time span), a series of regression models was generated that identify environmental predictors of bus stop crime. These models show that the most important predictor of crime is location. If the environment is controlled, undesirable facilities and litter result in higher crime rates, whereas visibility and many pedestrians lead to lower crime rates. The presence or absence of certain characteristics in the bus stop microenvironment can affect crime. Also, the appropriate design and layout of the physical environment can reduce opportunities for criminal actions.

JOURNEYS TO CRIME: ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF A LIGHT RAIL LINE ON CRIME IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS

The implementation of new transit lines is some times dogged by concerns that such lines may increase crime rates in station neighborhoods. Affluent communities have often complained that transit lines transport crime to the suburbs. This study focuses on the Green Line transit system in Los Angeles and examines its effects on crime in the adjacent areas. The Green Line light rail system passes through some high-crime inner city neighborhoods and terminates at its western end in affluent suburban communities. The study examines neighborhood level and municipality-wide crime trends for five years before and five years after the inception of the line. A piecewise regression model is developed to evaluate the impact of the opening of the line in the station neighborhoods. GIS analysis is also utilized to identify spatial shifts in crime hot spots for municipalities abutting the Green Line. At the end, the study establishes that the transit line has not had significant impacts on crime trends or crime dislocation in the station neighborhoods, and has not transported crime from the inner city to the suburbs.

Cracks in the city: Addressing the constraints and potentials of urban design

Abstract The term ‘crack’ is used in this paper as a metaphor for the fractured discontinuities encountered in the physical and social context of American cities. Cracks are the ‘in‐between’ spaces—residual, underutilized and often deteriorating—that frequently divide physical and social worlds. The paper sets out to explain why cracks are a common characteristic of the American urban landscape, by investigating the factors that have contributed to their formation. The study also lays out some normative objectives for transforming in‐between spaces, and for practising a socially responsible urban design, by discussing issues such as user empowerment, collaborative design, contextualism and flexibility of form. The role, responsibility and constraints of the urban designer in effecting change are discussed, and a call is extended for broadening the cultural, moral and political content of the profession.