Greener the safer? Effects of urban green space on community safety and perception of safety using satellite and street view imagery data

Qian He, Ling Wu, Claire Seungeun Lee, Chunwu Zhu, Weishan Bai, Weichen Guo and Xinyue Ye

Journal of Criminal Justice, 2025, vol. 97, issue C

Abstract: This study explores the link between urban green spaces, street crime, and safety perception through environmental criminology and big data analytics. While past research highlights green space benefits, findings on its relationship with crime remain inconclusive. Using satellite and Google Street View imagery, we develop a fine-scale urban green index and measure safety perception. A neighborhood disadvantage index, derived through principal component analysis of socio-economic factors, further informs our analysis. Geographically Weighted Regression results reveal that urban green spaces are significantly associated with reduced street crime and stronger perceptions of safety, even when controlling for other factors. These findings highlight the potential of urban green spaces to enhance community safety and foster a sense of security in public spaces, offering critical insights for urban planning and policy development.

Keywords: Urban green spaces; Crime reduction; Safety perception; Satellite imagery; Environmental criminology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235225000212
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:97:y:2025:i:c:s0047235225000212

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102372

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Criminal Justice is currently edited by Matthew DeLisi

More articles in Journal of Criminal Justice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().