Understanding the relationship between the spatial configuration and the crime rate of Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, Canada

Abstract

As one of Vancouver's oldest neighbourhoods and the historical heart of the city, Downtown Eastside (DTES) has been home to many low-income residents and has been challenged by factors such as high crime rates, drug use, unemployment, housing issues, and loss of businesses in the community. Although a variety of studies have explored the causes and effects of DTES's social dilemma and indicated that crimes are closely related to the spatial configuration of the underlying street network, how DTES's underlying street network affects the spatial distribution of different types of crime remains unclear. Focusing on the relationship between the street network and the crime rate of DTES, the authors make three hypotheses regarding the connections between the street network of DTES and the distribution patterns of crimes, and employ the space syntax methods to analyse the street network of DTES and test the hypotheses. The results indicate that the spatial configuration of street network can be helpful in explaining where different crimes may occur, thus providing a spatial perspective to figure out approaches to addressing DTES's social issues. At last, this paper, combining spatial and social perspectives, puts forward strategies for making DTES a more liveable place, and is likely to work as a reference for academics and practitioners to further understand gentrification and urbanisation related issues.