Reduced traffic cuts vandalism, burglary and violence

Lowering traffic on urban streets can cut vandalism, burglary and violence, according to a significant study by Leeds researchers.

The work, led by Professor Jose Pina-Sánchez and Dr Toby Davies from the University of Leeds School of Law, shows that levels of street crime go up if motor traffic increases – and there is a corresponding drop if traffic levels fall.

Traffic erodes community ties – neighbours talk less, trust each other less, look out for each other less.

— Professor Jose Pina-Sánchez

Impact

• Knowledge discovery: uncovering the link between heavy traffic and street crime.

Key information

• Disciplines: law, data analytics
• Investigators: Professor Jose Pina-Sánchez, Dr Toby Davies.

Keywords: crime, traffic, vandalism, spatial analysis, networks, computational methods, crime science, urban analytics, network science, social network analysis, criminal justice statistics, Broken Windows Theory, understanding society, street traffic