UrbanCrime: Spatial aspects of Crime and insecurity in the era of economic crisis Trends, dimensions and correlations

The rise in everyday criminality, such as burglaries, robberies and thefts in combination with the intensification of the environmental and social problems –often associated with the current financial crisis- within the urban setting of the Greek capital affected directly the level of the quality of the everyday life of the citizens.

On this basis, the study aims to examine the development of the criminal phenomenon and the consequent insecurity in the period of the economic crisis. Its evolution will be investigated in relation to economic deprivation in the municipalities of the region of Athens. The PI and the research team propose that the objectives are to investigate the role of the macro-economic factors to the evolution of criminality and their characteristics, as well as their role as generator of vulnerability and consequently of the fear of crime. All the above will be studied in the context of the ecological approach of criminology and the spatial aspects of crime.