The challenge
Blighted vacant land that breeds fear and crime and keeps residents indoors.
The case
In April-May 2013, researchers working with Philadelphia's vacant land program randomly assigned 541 vacant lots across the city to cleaning and greening, a trash cleanup only, or no change. Greening cost about $5 per square meter up front and about $0.50 per square meter to maintain. Over 38 months the team tracked police data and repeatedly interviewed 445 nearby residents. People living near greened lots reported fewer worries about crime (-36.8%) and vandalism (-39.3%), fewer safety concerns about going outside (-57.8%), and more use of outdoor space for relaxing and socializing (75.7%). In neighborhoods below the poverty line, near lots that received either treatment, gun assaults fell by 29.1% and all crimes by 13.3%.
Why it worked
Cheap fixes to shared physical space can bring neighbors back outside and cut violence, making place-based repair a scalable way to rebuild community life.
Sources
- Branas, C. C. et al. (2018). Citywide cluster randomized trial to restore blighted vacant land and its effects on violence, crime, and fear. PNAS.
- Columbia Mailman School of Public Health (2018). How to Reduce Crime and Gun Violence and Stabilize Neighborhoods.
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