Abstract

Exploring ''Near'': Characterizing the Extent of a Facility's Influence
Track: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice
Author(s): Elizabeth Groff

The general importance of the built environment in structuring human activity has been well-documented across a variety of disciplines including geography, criminology, and epidemiology. However, specific questions about the extent of the influence of particular built environment features remain unexamined. For example, the relationship between the presence of schools and the crime rates of the surrounding area (defined as census block group or neighborhood) is well-documented. But the specific spatial extent of that influence has not been quantified. This research evaluates several different methods for quantifying the concept of 'near' using geographic information systems (GIS) on measuring the spatial extent of the impact of schools on their surrounding environment. Once evaluated these methods can be applied to a variety of built environment features related to both health and safety (e.g. street lighting, parks, fast food restaurants etc.).

Elizabeth Groff
Temple University
Criminal Justice Department
1115 W. Berks Street
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19122
United States
Phone: 215-204-5164
E-mail: groff@temple.edu