Unravelling the links between public transportation and crime : the case of Barcelona

Abstract

Public transportation is central for any metropolis since it improves air quality by reducing automobile congestion, and facilitates compact development, conserving land and decreasing travel demand. Despite the striking benefits, the unintended effect of this type of investment on crime is hardly taken into account by policymakers, perhaps because of the little evidence of its magnitude. Exploiting spatial and time variability of a novel high-frequency crime dataset for Barcelona, I use an event study approach to examine the impact of Barcelona Metro expansion on local crime. On average, census tracts that have at least half of its area within 300 meters of a station opening expect to see an 8% increase in the total number of crimes (p<0.01) or a 14% increase in crime rates (p<0.001). The increase in crime is explained mostly by a long term effect and specifically, due to an increase in property crimes rather than crimes against persons.