Remediating abandoned, inner city buildings reduces crime, violence in surrounding areas

Fixing up abandoned buildings in the inner city doesn't just eliminate eyesores, it can also significantly reduce crime and violence, including gun assaults, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Penn's Perelman School of Medicine report in the first study to demonstrate the direct impact of building remediation efforts on crime. The findings were published this week in the journal PLOS ONE.

The research team, which included Michelle Kondo, PhD, a former research fellow at the Perelman School of Medicine now a scientist with the USDA Northern Research Station, John MacDonald, PhD, a professor of criminology at Penn, and Charles Branas, PhD, a professor of epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, found a significant decrease in serious and nuisance crimes in areas around remediated buildings after Philadelphia began enforcing an ordinance requiring owners of abandoned buildings to improve their facades and install working doors and windows in 2011. The most significant reduction (down by 39 percent) occurred for gun assaults around remediated buildings in the year following improvements.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150708141556.htm