Neighborhood Improvement and Crime Reduction through Housing Intervention

Since the mid-twentieth century, a vast literature in sociology and criminology has argued that neighborhood characteristics have a profound impact on crime prevalence. These ideas coalesce in the so-called broken window theory, which states that neighborhood deterioration signals low surveillance levels to potential offenders and culminates in increased crime. To empirically assess this argument, we examine if a program to rejuvenate Chicago’s housing stock affected criminal activity. The Micro Market Recovery Program (MMRP) sought to rebuild and restore distressed communities, primarily by reducing the costs of homeownership and housing maintenance in targeted areas. Our results contribute not only to the study of broken window theory, but also to a broader debate over housing policy. The study finds that housing maintenance investments create externalities. We show that rejuvenating the existing private housing stock, as an alternative to constructing public housing or incentivizing new private development, also has positive effects on reducing local crime rates.

Dr. Viviane Sanfelice is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Temple University.