The Surprising Science of Fighting Crime With...Trees.
When the Ida B. Wells housing project opened on Chicago’s South Side in 1941, its up-to-date kitchens and grassy lawns drew more than 1,500 black families looking for somewhere decent to settle. But over the decades, the project fell into disrepair: The grass turned to mud, and in an effort to reduce dust and maintenance costs, the city paved over many of the development’s green spaces, killing its trees. By the 1980s, the project was rife with gang warfare and drugs.
The loss of greenery may have had something to do with its decline. In 2001, environmental researchers at the University of Illinois published a landmark study on crime rates in different sections of the Wells project. By comparing aerial photos and police crime reports, the researchers calculated that buildings still surrounded by lots of foliage saw 48 percent fewer property crimes, on average, and 56 percent fewer violent crimes than buildings with low levels of vegetation. To be clear, the analysis didn’t prove the trees caused the phenomenon. But in the nearly two decades since, a small but growing body of research has supported the idea that trees may have a calming effect on crime.
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/04/trees-crime-cincinnati-philadelphia-ida-b-wells-chicago/
= new reply since forum marked as read
