Crime and the city

This course examines the concentration of crime in cities and urban communities and places the role of context at the centre of inquiry. It focusses on how local environments, geography, physical locations and residents’ perceptions and actions influence and shape crime. You will learn how cities differ from rural or regional environments in their crime rates and will critically engage with why crime and other social problems concentrate in cities and neighbourhoods, not only in Australia, but globally. The course is broken down into four modules: What is a city and how do cities differ?; How and where do social problems concentrate?; What are the key theories and perspectives that explain the concentration of crime; and How do prevent crime in cities and communities? Seminars, in class activities, field trips and labs will highlight how crime and responses to crime are shaped by spatial inequality, ethnic/racial segregation and diversity, and competing interests in access and use of public spaces