Studies on walkability show that when neighborhoods become more pedestrian-oriented, crime incidents often increase, particularly property and street-level crimes, because more foot traffic creates more opportunities for offenses. Traditional claims that walkability always improves safety overlook this reality—more people moving through an area means more potential targets and interactions, which can lead to higher overall crime activity.

JOURNAL ARTICLE
Unintended Consequences? The Effects of Neighbourhood Walkability on Crime in Nine US Cities
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James C Wo , 
Young-An Kim
The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 63, Issue 2, March 2023, Pages 304–329, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azac011
Published:
30 March 2022
 
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Abstract
The criminological literature suggests that neighbourhood walkability might produce unintended consequences, namely that walkability is associated with higher crime rates because it affords potential offenders an abundance of weakly guarded targets. To address this proposition, we investigate linear and nonlinear effects of walkability using a sample of block groups located across nine US cities. Results from our negative binomial regression models show that an index of walkability is associated with higher crime rates and that these effects are robust across cities. We also estimate crime models that test the main effects of the four indicators which comprise the walkability index, because of the recognition that certain dimensions of walkability might have a greater impact on crime