A GIS Analysis of the Relationship between Criminal Offenses and Parks in Kansas City, Kansas

Abstract

Most urban green space research focuses on the social benefits of parks and recreational areas. However, in areas with high levels of resource deprivation and physical disorder, parks may function as criminal marketplaces. Parks in such areas may cease to provide net benefits to the surrounding community and instead serve as a vector for criminal activity. Parks in eastern Kansas City, Kansas, are examined in terms of the probability of criminal marketplaces and beneficial social contribution. Variables for resource deprivation and social disorder are calculated for the study area and compared to national aggregates to identify which parks may behave as criminal marketplaces. In such cases, parks should exhibit an inverse relationship between distance from a park and number of criminal offenses per acre. Evaluating the incidence of crime near parks using geographic information systems (GIS) buffer analysis, proximity analysis, and spatial statistics demonstrates that parks in areas of extreme resource deprivation do not serve beneficial social roles, and some parks contradict conventional criminal justice and urban economic theory.