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Research shows that greening vacant properties can reduce crime and violence at the community level
Communities that engage in cleaning, mowing and repurposing vacant land are likely to see greater reductions in violence and crime than neighborhoods that do not engage in these activities, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. These findings, based on a three-year study conducted by researchers at the UM Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention and the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center in Youngstown, Ohio, were published this month in the American Journal of Community Psychology. With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers examined the busy streets theory and the greening hypothesis that...
Research shows that greening vacant properties can reduce crime and violence at the community level
Communities that engage in cleaning, mowing and repurposing vacant land are likely to see greater reductions in violence and crime than neighborhoods that do not engage in these activities, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.
These findings, based on a three-year study conducted by researchers at the UM Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention and the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center in Youngstown, Ohio, were published this month in the American Journal of Community Psychology. With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers examined the busy streets theory and the greening hypothesis, which suggest that involving residents in clearing and repurposing vacant lots can reduce crime and violence.
Our findings suggest that when local organizations and institutions work with residents to improve the community, these efforts can help create safer neighborhoods.”
Laney Rupp, manager of the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center at UM's School of Public Health
The researchers worked with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and used data from 2,100 street segments to test the impact of community-led greening of vacant properties. The results showed that street sections around vacant properties maintained by residents had more than twice as much violent crime than professionally maintained areas, while areas without maintenance saw a slight increase in violent crime. These results were the same when looking at crime involving only juvenile victims.
A related study conducted in Flint, Michigan, in 2018 by researchers at the UM School of Public Health showed that efforts to preserve vacant land in the city reduced assaults and violent crime by 40 percent. In both studies, researchers emphasize the need to ensure formal community partnerships between residents and other stakeholders, such as land banks, to financially support residents' work and avoid burdening vulnerable communities.
“Greening interventions driven by community residents can be easily scaled to cover large areas, influence population-level changes to improve community health, and prevent violence over time,” said Marc Zimmerman, Marshall H. Becker Collegiate Professor of Public Health and co-director of the Institute for the Prevention of Violence Firearm injuries
“Based on our research, we found that resident engagement is critical to the sustainability of greening as it is linked to improved acceptance of programs, long-term community buy-in and safer streets.”
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Reference:
Gong, CH, et al. (2022) Community engagement, greening, and violent crime: A test of the greening hypothesis and busy streets. American Journal of Community Psychology. doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12622.
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