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Urban crime and violence: Conditions and trends75• Poor areas provide customers, who, for economicreasons, are willing to purchase second-hand andquestionable goods.• Because there are willing customers, poor areas provideplaces to sell secondhand and questionable goods.• Markets for such goods encourage property offenders tobe active in poor areas.• Proceeds from property offences are used in drug orother illegal transactions.• Such transactions fuel more serious crimes, such asarmed robbery and assaults. 211Besides the effects on specific victims, high robbery andviolent crime rates affect cities by leaving some areasdesolate, especially in the evenings, thereby adversely affectingthe local economy. In communities, generally, butespecially in high crime risk areas, fear of violence discouragespedestrians and reduces the attractiveness of publicspaces. As such, it has a cumulative effect by diminishingsurveillance possibilities, or ‘eyes on the street’, whichincreases risks to offenders of being observed, caught, prosecutedor, in informal systems, retaliated against. Althoughthere remains significant debate on its efficacy, dependingupon other circumstances, increased surveillance maydiscourage street crime generally, including contact crimessuch as armed robbery.■ Impacts of burglaryAlthough often committed against vehicles, burglary is themost common property crime connected to the built environment.High burglary rates have implications forneighbourhoods, cities and nations. Commercial and residentialproperties are frequent targets for burglaries, and datashows that, on average, one out of five urban residents worldwidereport being victimized within a five-year period. 212Burglaries have significant direct and indirect consequencesfor victims, especially where there are no indemnificationsystems and where victims suffer significant long-termpsychological effects. In one study, nearly 40 per cent ofburglary victims stated that they had been very muchaffected and 68 per cent indicated that they felt angry as aresult of burglaries and attempted burglaries. Shock, fear anddifficulty in sleeping were also fairly common experiences ofburglary victims. 213 The enduring psychological effects ofburglary on its victims are just as severe as the effects relatedto violent crimes, such as assault and robbery.Evidence suggests that burglars target properties thatare expected to yield loot with the highest market value andsome neighbourhoods become known for burglary incidents,which may depress property values, although this relationshipis quite complicated. Some research has shown thatother property crimes, such as criminal damage to buildingsin the form of vandalism, graffiti and arson, have a largernegative impact on property values than burglary insomuchas they are overt indicators of community deterioration thatgenerate fear and drive off investment. 214One manifestation of the failure of public agencies toadequately address the fear and incidence of seriousproperty and contact crimes, such as burglary and robbery, isthe global explosion of privatized gated areas and privatesecurity forces. Many cities in developing countries havewitnessed the proliferation of private security as a means ofsafeguarding residences and commercial enterprises. InCaracas, 73 per cent of the population have private securityfor their homes, while 39 per cent made contributions interms of money and time to community and neighbourhoodwatch initiatives designed to reduce crime. 215 In SouthAfrica, the number of private security guards has increasedby 150 per cent since 1997, while the number of policeofficials has declined by 2.2 per cent during the sameperiod. 216 In Kenya, the private security industry is one ofthe fastest growing businesses. 217 The proliferation ofprivate security firms in Kenya coincides with the upsurge incrime, particularly in Nairobi during the mid 1980s. Prior tothen, private security firms were a rarity. It is important tonote that the use of private security in cities of developingcountries is no longer the sole preserve of wealthy households:it is becoming increasingly common in informal andlow-income settlements where crime is widespread.Characterized as a ‘common interest’ approach tosecurity, guarded and gated communities are found in developednations such as the US, where they are prevalentacross the south, southwest and west, 218 and in the UK,where they are growing at a significant pace in the LondonMetropolitan area and in the southeast of England. 219 Theyare also increasingly found in transitional and developingnations. Indeed, the high rates of violent crimes and the fearof crime are important in explaining the emergence of gatedcommunities in Latin American and Caribbean cities. 220While security concerns have been advanced as a primaryrationale for their increase, they are certainly not the solereasons. Prestige, lifestyle choice, perceived urban servicedelivery advantages (including better policing), as well asincreased land and home values, are also identified as factorscontributing to their growth, depending upon localcontexts. 221Definitions of gated communities vary widely, butthey tend to share the following functional characteristics:separation from neighbouring land by fences, walls, or byother constructed or natural obstructions, includingsymbolic barriers; filtered entry using mechanical,electronic or human guardianship as access-controlelements; and, generally, privatized internal gathering areasand circulation systems, which may include roads, sidewalksand footpaths.As noted, a primary rationale for gated and guardedcommunities is enhanced security, and some studiessuggests that gating has limited short-term benefits in reducingspecific crimes. 222 But research also indicates that theeffects of gating tend to decay over time as offenders adaptand as environmental and social conditions change. 223 Moresignificant impacts of gating are seen in the real and potentialspatial and social fragmentation of cities, leading to thediminished use and availability of public space and increasedsocio-economic polarization. In this context, gating has beencharacterized as having counterintuitive impacts, evenincreasing crime and the fear of crime as the middle classesabandon public streets to the vulnerable poor, to streetOne manifestationof the failure ofpublic agencies toadequately addressthe fear andincidence of seriousproperty and contactcrimes… is theglobal explosion ofprivatized gatedareas and privatesecurity forces