想要打擊城市犯罪？多種樹吧
Want to fight crime in the city? Plant a tree
Can a tree help prevent crime? It just might. Two new studies, led by US Forest Service researchers, took a closer look at urban green space in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Youngstown, Ohio. In each of these cities, adding green space to crime-ridden areas helped reduce crime rates, the researchers found.
種樹可以預防犯罪嗎？有可能哦.美國林務局研究員做的兩項最新研究仔細調查了費城、巴爾的摩和俄亥俄州揚斯敦的市區綠化情況.研究人員發現,在這三個城市中,在治安糟糕的區域增加綠化面積可以有效減少犯罪率.
In 2000, Philadelphia launched a program to plant vegetation along roadways to help soak up rainwater. Researchers looked at 52 of these vegetation plots and compared them with control plots that didn't receive the greenery upgrade. After tracking 14 types of crime in nearby areas, researchers found that narcotics possession in those areas decreased by 18 to 27 percent, even as the rate for the rest of the city rose by 65 percent.
2000年,費城啟動了一個項目,在道路兩旁種植綠化帶吸收雨水.研究者們觀察了52處綠化點,與沒有進行綠化改造的對照區進行對比.在追蹤了附近14種犯罪手段之后,研究者發現,這些區域的毒品持有量下降到27%,下降了18個百分點,盡管這一數字在城市的其它地區還上漲了65個百分點.
Michelle Kondo, a social scientist and lead researcher with the forest service, speculated the increased presence of city trucks and vans in the landscaped areas — for planting and maintenance — was enough to deter illicit activity.
林務局首席研究員、社會學家米歇爾•近藤推測,在這些區域負責綠化和養護的市政車輛增加,有效阻止了違法活動.
A similar effect was noted in Youngstown, Ohio — a depressed Midwestern town known for its high rates of crime and unemployment. From 2010 to 2014, city officials embarked on a project to reclaim some of the city's empty lots and derelict buildings by converting them into green space. In 2011, they added another initiative that gave local communities funding to plant green space in vacant lots in whatever method they chose — lawns, community gardens, playgrounds and more.
在俄亥俄州的揚斯敦也發現了類似的情況.這是一座經濟蕭條的中西部城市,以高犯罪率和失業率聞名.從2010年到2014年,政府開啟了一項回收城市空地和無主建筑的計劃,把這些區域改造成綠地.2011年,他們又啟動了一項綠地基金計劃,鼓勵當地民眾以各種形式綠化空地——無論是草坪、社區花園、運動場還是其它.
When Kondo and her team compared crime around these vegetation plots with undeveloped plots in nearby areas, they found the areas around new green spaces had lower crime rates than elsewhere in the city. Interestingly, the crime reduction was different depending upon the type of green space that was developed. For example, lots that were planted with grass and maintained by contractors saw a reduction in property crimes such as theft and burglary, whereas community-maintained plots saw a sharp reduction in violent crime. This suggests that different types of green space could be developed to deter certain types of crime.
