A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia
Urban area expansion is one of the most critical types of worldwide change, and most urban areas are experiencing increased growth in population and infrastructure development. Urban change leads to many changes in the daily activities of people living within an affected area. Many studies have sugg...
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doaj-1293e63d2f8b4f8498a86c26da7180cc2020-11-25T00:01:22ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922016-10-0181086310.3390/rs8100863rs8100863A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi ArabiaMofza Algahtany0Lalit Kumar1School of Environment and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaSchool of Environment and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaUrban area expansion is one of the most critical types of worldwide change, and most urban areas are experiencing increased growth in population and infrastructure development. Urban change leads to many changes in the daily activities of people living within an affected area. Many studies have suggested that urbanization and crime are related. However, they focused particularly on land uses, types of land use, and urban forms, such as the physical features of neighbourhoods, roads, shopping centres, and bus stations. Understanding the correlation between urban area expansion and crime is very important for criminologists and urban planning decision-makers. In this study, we have used satellite images to measure urban expansion over a 10-year period and tested the correlations between these expansions and the number of criminal activities within these specific areas. The results show that there is a measurable relationship between urban expansion and criminal activities. Our findings support the crime opportunity theory as one possibility, which suggests that population density and crime are conceptually related. We found the correlations are stronger where there has been greater urban growth. Many other factors that may affect crime rate are not included in this paper, such as information on the spatial details of the population, city planning, economic considerations, the distance from the city centre, neighbourhood quality, and police numbers. However, this study will be of particular interest to those who aim to use remote sensing to study patterns of crime.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/8/10/863crimeremote sensingland useurbanurbanizationexpansion |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mofza Algahtany Lalit Kumar |
spellingShingle |
Mofza Algahtany Lalit Kumar A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia Remote Sensing crime remote sensing land use urban urbanization expansion |
author_facet |
Mofza Algahtany Lalit Kumar |
author_sort |
Mofza Algahtany |
title |
A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia |
title_short |
A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia |
title_full |
A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia |
title_fullStr |
A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Method for Exploring the Link between Urban Area Expansion over Time and the Opportunity for Crime in Saudi Arabia |
title_sort |
method for exploring the link between urban area expansion over time and the opportunity for crime in saudi arabia |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Remote Sensing |
issn |
2072-4292 |
publishDate |
2016-10-01 |
description |
Urban area expansion is one of the most critical types of worldwide change, and most urban areas are experiencing increased growth in population and infrastructure development. Urban change leads to many changes in the daily activities of people living within an affected area. Many studies have suggested that urbanization and crime are related. However, they focused particularly on land uses, types of land use, and urban forms, such as the physical features of neighbourhoods, roads, shopping centres, and bus stations. Understanding the correlation between urban area expansion and crime is very important for criminologists and urban planning decision-makers. In this study, we have used satellite images to measure urban expansion over a 10-year period and tested the correlations between these expansions and the number of criminal activities within these specific areas. The results show that there is a measurable relationship between urban expansion and criminal activities. Our findings support the crime opportunity theory as one possibility, which suggests that population density and crime are conceptually related. We found the correlations are stronger where there has been greater urban growth. Many other factors that may affect crime rate are not included in this paper, such as information on the spatial details of the population, city planning, economic considerations, the distance from the city centre, neighbourhood quality, and police numbers. However, this study will be of particular interest to those who aim to use remote sensing to study patterns of crime. |
topic |
crime remote sensing land use urban urbanization expansion |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/8/10/863 |
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