Public parks and crimes of property: get out there and enjoy the sunshine, lock your cars, and hide your bike

Abstract

Cities promote the distribution of more and better greenspaces across their urbanized areas. These spaces are not, however, well received in all quarters, and a particular category of greenspace, the public park, is often lamented for its relationship with crime.his has been found true of parks, but little has been done to disaggregate the impact of park types or their location within the city. This study conducts such an investigation to identify the effects of different types of parks and to identify any differences of those effects across space. After accounting for the unique socio-economic and demographic circumstances of different areas within a particular Canadian city, London, Ontario, it is found that only very few parks are connected with higher rates of property crime.