Citation

Ostrensky VP, Batista TB, Bortolini E. J. Exp. Criminol. 2023; 19(4): 1053-1066.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11292-022-09503-3

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

This study analyses the effects of the openings of new metro and urban train stations on crime rates in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo during the period from 2007 to 2016.
Methods

We conducted a Difference-in-Differences with Propensity Score Matching in quarterly geocoded data of crimes reports, aggregated in census tracts. We also investigate whether the effect varies with neighborhood income and overtime.
Results

The results were subdivided by the census tract's income. Regarding all the treated census tracts, the count of crime reports increased 17.1% since 2007 in areas within 250m from the stations. For the wealthiest census tracts, we found a 30.4% impact. The effects on census tracts below the median income were not statistically significant.
Conclusion

Specific security policies should be near new metro and urban train stations, especially in the wealthiest districts.

Language: en

Keywords

Differences-in-differences; Public transit; Quasi-experimental design; Transportation costs; Urban crime