Foreword: South African Journal of Geomatics special edition

No Abstract

The periodicity of violent and property crime in Tshwane, South Africa

In this article, we identify and analyze the periodicity of violent and property crimes committed in Tshwane, South Africa, from 2001 to 2006. This is done using Fourier analysis, an advanced explorative mathematical technique commonly used in the physical sciences to detect the presence of a frequency or periodicity in a large time-series data set. The use of this technique in criminology is in its infancy, and in this study, Fourier analysis is used to identify periodic moments in time at which the risk of being a victim of violent and property crime in the city of Tshwane is heightened. Results indicated that violent crime peaks roughly every 7 and 75 days over the 5-year study period, with a marginal peak every 150 days. Property crimes peak every 75 days and every 150 days. Periodic peaks of crime observed in this study are explained using the central tenets of routine activities theory. Fourier analysis is an underused, powerful data-driven mathematical tool that should be added to the methodological arsenal available to criminologists when analyzing the temporal dimension of crime.http://icj.sagepub.comGeography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

Is it safer behind the gates? Crime and gated communities in South Africa

Gated communities have long been seen as a rational response to rising crime levels, yet very little is known about the extent to which residing in a gated community actually reduces an individuals’ risk of criminal victimisation. In this study, we use location quotients to compare the extent of burglary in gated communities with burglary across the entire city of Tshwane, South Africa, as well as compare burglary in gated communities with burglary occurring within a series of buffer intervals immediately surrounding these communities. Finally, we identify what physical characteristics of gated communities differentiate between high and low burglary in these enclaves. Prior to expectations, we found that gated communities (and their immediate surrounding areas) are associated with increased levels of burglary. There are, however, a number of physical characteristics of gated communities which are associated with much lower burglary levels. The implications of our work from a crime prevention and development planning perspective are discussed.http://link.springer.com/journal/10901/29/1hb201

Spatio-temporal patterns and changes in environmental attitudes and place attachment in Gauteng, South Africa

In this study, we employed a number of geospatial techniques to examine the spatio-temporal patterns and changes of environmental attitudes and place attachment values in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The data were obtained from the Gauteng City Region Observatory’s Quality of Life Survey collected at three separate points in time, namely 2013, 2015, and 2017. Results indicated that wards (smallest administrative and analysis units) located on the urban periphery of Gauteng, which are generally less affluent, largely held more negative environmental attitudes and place attachment values during the three time periods. In contrast, centrally located wards, which are generally more affluent, expressed more positive environmental attitudes but less place attachment values, especially in 2017. The findings of this research not only highlight the complex spatio-temporal distribution of environmental attitudes and place attachment values throughout Gauteng but also emphasize the need for spatially targeted state interventions for future environmental planning within the province.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tgsi20hj2022Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

Intra-week spatial-temporal patterns of crime

Since its original publication, routine activity theory has proven most instructive for understanding temporal patterns in crime. The most prominent of the temporal crime patterns investigated is seasonality: crime (most often assault) increases during the summer months and decreases once routine activities are less often outside. Despite the rather widespread literature on the seasonality of crime, there is very little research investigating temporal patterns of crime at shorter time intervals such as within the week or even within the day. This paper contributes to this literature through a spatial-temporal analysis of crime patterns for different days of the week. It is found that temporal patterns are present for different days of the week (more crime on weekends, as would be expected) and there is a spatial component to that temporal change. Specifically, aside from robbery and sexual assault at the micro-spatial unit of analysis (street segments) the spatial patterns of crime changed. With regard to the spatial pattern changes, we found that assaults and theft from vehicle had their spatial patterns change in predictable ways on Saturdays: assaults increased in the bar district and theft from vehicles increased in the downtown and recreational car park areas