Urban Green Space Reduces Property and Violent Crime

Urban green space improves quality of life for residents, but it can also create hot spots for criminal activity. Find out how a new study shows that overall, parks, gardens and fields lower crime risk.

I moved across town to a new house recently, and I’ve been walking around the new neighbourhood getting acquainted with the local sights and sounds. My daily walks have led me to discover several little parks, ponds and other urban green space I never knew existed in my home town.

Growing up, the local kids and I played in a little patch of green alongside what we all called “the crick.” It has a name now, “Mill Creek,” and the town council named our space between the river and the railroad tracks Kay Cee Gardens.

We spent a lot of time there when I was young. I even remember falling off the dam and into the pond behind it, and having to go home to my mom soaking wet from head to toe,

OPENspace Research Centre, Edinburgh College of Art

Dr. Scott Ogletree is a research fellow at the Edinburgh College of Art. He’s part of the OPENspace research centre at the college’s School of Architecture…