TROPICAL GEOGRAPHY ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (4): 610-618.doi: 10.13284/j.cnki.rddl.002860

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Environmental Impacts on Burglary Victimization in Gated Communities: A Multi-level Analysis in Guangzhou

YANG Gangbin1,2,LIU Lin1,3,HE Shenjing4,XU Chong5   

  1. (1.Center of Integrated Geographic Information Analysis,School of Geography and Planning,Sun Yat-Sen University,Guangzhou 510075,China;2.Urban Planning and Design Institute of Zhongshan,Zhongshan 528403,China;3.Department of Geography,University of Cincinnati,USA;4.Department of Urban Planning and Design,The University of Hong Kong,Pokfulam,Hong Kong;5.School of Geographical Science,Guangzhou University,Guangzhou 510006,China)
  • Received:2015-08-03 Online:2016-07-05 Published:2016-07-05

Abstract:

Based on large-scale household survey conducted during the period from October to December, 2012, in Guangzhou, the authors studied burglary victimization and its environmental leading factors in gated community. The research variables selection of this paper is under the guidance of the CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) and social disorganization theory. From the perspective of community environment, the paper explores the impact of environmental factors on household burglary victimization. On the basis of literature review, this paper first introduced the core elements and main ideas of CPTED theory and social disorder theory, which are broadly accepted in community crime research. Under the guidance of these elements and ideas, we finished an investigation of gated community in Guangzhou, China. Related social, economic and environmental factors are collected. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis are performed to refine the features of these selected factors. Three main components at community level and four main components at family level were extracted. To check community environment and social-economic factor’s effects on household burglary condition,hierarchical logistic regression was performed to analyze the cross scale effects between community and family factors on family burglary condition. The results of the five multi-level regression models suggest that both the community environment and family housing characteristics have significant impact on residential burglary victimization. Family burglary victimization is mostly affected by family housing conditions and demographic characteristics, while community variables have a very important role in regulating family factor’s effect. Regression results show that housing conditions, public space utilization rate and family population characteristics have significant influence on whether a house is burglarized. Furthermore, neighborhood formal control mechanisms, community environmental image, residence turnover rate, community openness and degree of function mixing through indirect effects of family characteristics have influence on household burglary victimization.

Key words: gated community, burglary victimization, environmental factors, multi-level model, Guangzhou