A Study on the Influence of the Urban Characteristics on the Incidence of Crime Using Panel Model

Abstract

This study, based on the sociological crime theory, is to examine the relation between urban characteristics and the incidence of crime, helping establish effective crime prevention measures. For doing so, the study employs crime data from the Supreme Prosecutors` Office and socio-demographic data including the regional Statistical Yearbooks -both from 2005 to 2012- to build the study`s panel data, and analyzes the panel model on the 16 subordinate districts in the city of Busan. To reduce the incidence of crime and prevent crimes from occurring based on the analysis results, first, prevention measures specific to each region by its attributes are needed rather than general ones; second, new institutional frameworks or policies are required for utilizing accurate crime data; third, interdisciplinary research in which various fields including urban engineering are associated to that of social science is necessary to further the study.