关键词: 城市犯罪, 空间格局, 爱得蒙顿市

Abstract: With a technique of GIS and a method of regression analysis,the spatial patterns of crimes and their correlation with population density in Edmonton,Canada,are analyzed in this paper.The crime statistics for each neighborhood in 1991 is obtained from the Edmonton Journal released by the city police.The crime types selected include thefts,motor vehicle thefts,break and enters,robbery,homicides,sexual assaults,assaults,and abductions.Variables used in the paper include crime density,crime occurrence and crime rate.The results obtained from a map analysis on crime density show that spatial differentiation of crimes occurred in the city is obvious.The general patterns of the distribution for all types of crime accord with the law of distance decay,the nearer to the city center a neighborhood,the higher its crime density.The results of regression analysis indicate that there is a positive relationship between the crime density and population density,which means that the neighborhoods with higher population density bear higher crime density.Analysis of the relationship between land use and crime density shows that commercial districts bear highest crime density among all types of land uses.

Key words: crime, spatial patterns, Edmonton