Urban blight remediation as a cost-beneficial solution to firearm violence

C.C. Branas, M.C. Kondo, S.M. Murphy, E.C. South, D. Polsky and J.M. MacDonald

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 12, 2158-2164

Abstract: Objectives. To determine if blight remediation of abandoned buildings and vacant lots can be a cost-beneficial solution to firearm violence in US cities. Methods. We performed quasi-experimental analyses of the impacts and economic returns on investment of urban blight remediation programs involving 5112 abandoned buildings and vacant lots on the occurrence of firearm and nonfirearm violence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1999 to 2013.We adjusted before-after percent changes and returns on investment in treated versus control groups for sociodemographic factors. Results. Abandoned building remediation significantly reduced firearm violence-39% (95% confidence interval [CI] =-28%,-50%; P

Keywords: blight; confidence interval; control group; firearm; human; investment; Pennsylvania; prevention; urban population; violence; city; city planning; cost benefit analysis; economics; prevention and control; United States; violence, Cities; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Firearms; Humans; United States; Urban Renewal; Violence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303434_4

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303434

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