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Part II of the Global Report on Human Settlements analysesthe global conditions and trends of urban crime andviolence, and examines policy responses designed to reducethe incidence and impacts of crime and violence. In particular,Chapter 3 assesses global trends in the incidence ofurban crime and violence by type, the factors that determinelevels of vulnerability to crime and violence, and the impactsof urban crime and violence. Chapter 4 identifies the rangeof policy responses at the local, national and internationallevels designed to tackle urban crime and violence.Crime and violence are fundamental threats to humansecurity and safety from crime, and violence – including theresulting fear and insecurity – is increasingly being acknowledgedinternationally as a public good, as well as a basichuman right. Although found in virtually all cities across theworld, most places are safe and most citizens are neitherperpetrators nor victims of crime and violence. Rather, crimetends to be concentrated in certain parts of the city and inneighbourhoods that are known to the police and citizens.Fear of crime, whether linked to these specific ‘hotspots’ ormore general in nature is often exacerbated by the mediaand may spread quickly as information is communicated bycell phones, email and through the internet.As shown in this part of the report, global crimeincidence has steadily increased over the 1980–2000 period,rising about 30 per cent, from 2300 to over 3000 crimes per100,000 inhabitants. However, crime incident rates havefallen significantly in some regions, such as North America.This is in contrast to Latin America and the Caribbean,where crime incidence rose during this period, reflecting, inpart, political transitions from autocracy to democracy andlocalized civil conflicts. Globally, there is little indication thatcrime rates will decrease in the near future.Homicide, a significant type of violent crime, isdiscussed in detail in this part of the report. Homicide ratesfor cities are extremely variable, with Asian cities demonstratinggenerally low rates compared to cities in Africa,Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and NorthAmerica. Interpersonal violence is widespread, with womenand children being the main victims. While the privatesetting of the home is often the venue for child abuse andinterpersonal violence, many victims experience thesecrimes at public institutions such as schools, hospitals or inother public facilities.Another type of crime examined is organized crime,which is often linked to corruption. It is estimated toaccount for US$1 billion in illicit capital that is circulateddaily by criminal groups among the world’s financial institutions.Findings show comparatively high levels of perceivedorganized crime in Africa, Central Asia, and Latin Americaand the Caribbean, while low levels are reported for Canada,Australia and Northern Europe. Drug, arms and humantrafficking are among the principal activities of organizedcrime. Women and girls are especially vulnerable to humantrafficking. It is estimated that between 700,000 and 1million persons are trafficked around the world each year.Human traffickers often exploit children and young, uneducatedand unemployed women from rural areas. Theprevalence of as many as 100 million street children in citiesaround the world is also associated with drug and humantrafficking, along with interpersonal violence, child abuseand poverty, among other factors. Youth gang membership isalso estimated to be in the millions worldwide, with institutionalizedyouth gangs concentrated in cities that have highviolence rates.With respect to the factors underlying crime andviolence, which are examined at length in this part of thereport, informal social, cultural and religious values aregenerally more powerful motivators or constraints thanformal legal rules or regulations. Poverty has long beenrecognized as an important factor associated withincreased crime and violence. While crime may be seen as asurvival alternative in the face of grinding poverty, thereare poor communities where crime levels are low becausebehaviour is constrained by informal social and culturalvalues. Inequality may be a more important underlyingfactor in the perpetration of crime and violence thanpoverty per se.An important issue explored in this part of the reportis the relationship between city size, density and crimeincidence. The rapid pace of urbanization in many developingcountries, and the resulting increase in city size anddensity, is associated with increased crime and violence.Poor urban planning, design and management have increasinglybeen cited as playing a role in the shaping of urbanenvironments that put citizens and property at risk. Thus,the physical fabric and layout of cities have a bearing on theroutine movements of offenders and victims and on opportunitiesfor crime. In response, a number of crime preventionstrategies through environmental design have emerged,especially in developed countries.The proportion and growth of youthful populationshave long been connected with increased crime and violencerates. Unemployment is a fundamental risk factor related to