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“Safe Going”: The influence of crime rates and perceived crime and safety on walking in deprived neighbourhoods

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  • Mason, Phil
  • Kearns, Ade
  • Livingston, Mark

Abstract

Few studies have simultaneously examined the relationship of levels of recorded crime, perceptions of crime and disorder, and safety from crime with rates of physical activity. We developed a series of multilevel ordinal regression models to examine these aspects in relation to self-reported neighbourhood walking frequency in a cross-sectional sample of 3824 British adults from 29 deprived neighbourhoods in Glasgow, UK. Perceptions of several serious local antisocial behaviours (drunkenness and burglary) and feelings of personal safety (feeling safe in the home and if walking alone in the local area at night) were consistently associated, respectively, with less and more frequent walking. Conversely, perceiving drug dealing or drug use as a serious problem was associated with walking more frequently. There was a small but significant association between walking frequency in neighbourhoods with higher recorded person crime (but not property crime) rates when considered in conjunction with other aspects of disorder and crime safety, although not when additionally controlling for sociodemographic, neighbourhood and community aspects. The magnitude of these objective and perceived crime-related effects is modest and features of the psychosocial environment and social cohesion (having a sense of progress from living in the neighbourhood, group participation and positively rating social venues), as well as health and personal income deprivation, may more strongly determine levels of neighbourhood walking. Nevertheless, physical activity benefits may accrue at the population level through provision of environments that are safer from crime. Our study also shows the importance to local walking of neighbourhood management, which reduces problems of disorder, and of social regeneration, which helps strengthen sense of community.

Suggested Citation

  • Mason, Phil & Kearns, Ade & Livingston, Mark, 2013. "“Safe Going”: The influence of crime rates and perceived crime and safety on walking in deprived neighbourhoods," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 15-24.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:91:y:2013:i:c:p:15-24
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ball, Kylie & Cleland, Verity J. & Timperio, Anna F. & Salmon, Jo & Giles-Corti, Billie & Crawford, David A., 2010. "Love thy neighbour? Associations of social capital and crime with physical activity amongst women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 807-814, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jinhyun Hong & Cynthia Chen, 2014. "The role of the built environment on perceived safety from crime and walking: examining direct and indirect impacts," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(6), pages 1171-1185, November.
    2. Julie Clark & Ade Kearns, 2015. "Pathways to a physical activity legacy: Assessing the regeneration potential of multi-sport events using a prospective approach," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 30(8), pages 888-909, December.
    3. Reutter, Ulrike & Holz-Rau, Christian & Albrecht, Janna & Hülz, Martina (ed.), 2020. "Wechselwirkungen von Mobilität und Raumentwicklung im Kontext gesellschaftlichen Wandels [Interations between mobility and spatial development in the context of social change]," Forschungsberichte der ARL, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, volume 14, number 14, January.
    4. Orstad, Stephanie L. & McDonough, Meghan H. & Klenosky, David B. & Mattson, Marifran & Troped, Philip J., 2017. "The observed and perceived neighborhood environment and physical activity among urban-dwelling adults: The moderating role of depressive symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 57-66.
    5. Holz-Rau, Christian & Scheiner, Joachim, 2020. "Mobilität und Raumentwicklung im Kontext gesellschaftlichen Wandels - Schlussfolgerungen für Politik, Planungspraxis und Forschung," Forschungsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Reutter, Ulrike & Holz-Rau, Christian & Albrecht, Janna & Hülz, Martina (ed.), Wechselwirkungen von Mobilität und Raumentwicklung im Kontext gesellschaftlichen Wandels, volume 14, pages 380-408, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    6. O'Brien, Daniel T. & Farrell, Chelsea & Welsh, Brandon C., 2019. "Broken (windows) theory: A meta-analysis of the evidence for the pathways from neighborhood disorder to resident health outcomes and behaviors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 272-292.
    7. Eric T. H. Chan & Tim Schwanen & David Banister, 2021. "The role of perceived environment, neighbourhood characteristics, and attitudes in walking behaviour: evidence from a rapidly developing city in China," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 431-454, February.
    8. Li, Shengxiao & Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, He & Quan, Jing, 2019. "Walking behavior in the old downtown Beijing: The impact of perceptions and attitudes and social variations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-11.
    9. Vaz-Patto, Constança M.R.P. & Ferreira, Fernando A.F. & Govindan, Kannan & Ferreira, Neuza C.M.Q.F., 2024. "Rethinking urban quality of life: Unveiling causality links using cognitive mapping, neutrosophic logic and DEMATEL," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 316(1), pages 310-328.

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