The Built Environment and Urban Crime Patterns: A spatial analysis of land use and property crime in Surrey, B.C.

As we grow our urban space, it is important to understand the influence of the built environment on criminal opportunity. Using a theoretical foundation that synthesizes routine activity theory and social disorganization theory, this study examines the spatial relationship between land use and property crime in a large metropolitan city. A series of spatial analyses were used to explore the geographic distribution of three types of property crime: residential break and enter, commercial break and enter, and theft of motor vehicle. Results found support not only for a spatial relationship between the built environment and property crime occurrences but also for the effect of the socio-economic variables of routine activity theory and social disorganization theory.