Timing and Spacing Crime in the Urban Environment: Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky - 1985.
Abstract
Recent effort in urban geography have sought to incorporate the time dimension into spatial analysis. While different approaches have been used, most can be collapsed into two fundamental contexts: one-directional change and repetition, The central premise of this thesis holds that time, in its cyclical sense, creats distinct space-time landscapes, and that discrete time blocks translate into usable analytical aids for the social/behavioral scientist, and effectivement tools for those who must apportion scarce urban resources. Crime events are plotted over time to determine the pattern for eight crime types, and hours of the day are collapsed into six statistically significant four-hour time slices. Matrices with 312 space-time units (52 census tracts X 6 time slices) and 364 (52 X 7 days of the week) space-day units are formed. Regression analysis is used to test the significance of traditional socioeconomic predictor variables in explaining the variance among crime rates within the space-time and space-day units. Time factors are then added to each equation as categorial variables, and the regression analyses are repeated to determine the increased explanatory power attributable to the time dimension. Significant improvements are noted--particularly with respects to violent crimes such as assaults. Keywords: Time dependence; Geographical distribution; Mapping; Urban crime; Time geography; Space-time units; Spatiotemporal analysis; Crime correlates.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA168070
Entities
People
- Robert C. Ham