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3CHAPTERURBAN CRIME AND VIOLENCE:CONDITIONS AND TRENDSThis chapter documents global conditions and trends withrespect to urban crime and violence. It forms the basis forthe policy responses that are presented in Chapter 4 andrecommendations as to ways forward that are advanced inChapter 10. In examining crime and violence, the analyticalframework presented in Chapter 2 is used by focusing onvulnerability, risk factors and impacts at the global, national,local urban, community, household and individual levels. Itmust be emphasized from the outset that the topic areascovered in this and the other chapters on crime and violenceinvolve vast and rapidly evolving literatures. This is onemeasure of the importance of the subjects to individuals,states and the global community. This also means thatcomprehensive review of the field is not feasible in a fewchapters, nor is this the intent. Rather, the aim is to providean assessment of conditions and trends, as well as policiesand strategies, which are fundamental to the creation ofsafer and more secure cities relative to the prevention,reduction and mitigation of crime and violence. The chapteris divided into five sections.The first section describes the analytical frameworkand orientation of the chapter. It also identifies key conceptsand terms, and makes observations about the quality andavailability of crime data. The section on ‘The incidence andvariability of crime and violence’ discusses the incidence ofcrime at the global, regional, national and local levels. Thefactors that trigger crime and violence are discussed in‘Factors underlying crime and violence’. The impacts ofcrime and violence are then addressed in a fourth section.This is followed by the final section, which provides briefconcluding remarks.ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKSFOR THE CHAPTERCrime and violence as predictablephenomenaLike natural disasters, crime and violence are predictablephenomena variably affecting cities of all sizes across theglobe. Often seen as discrete events, crime and violence arethe result of processes and choices that have long-termunderlying roots, including those related to global economicchanges, national conditions and to the level and pace ofurban development. Crime and violence are also associatedwith more immediate risk factors, such as the ready availabilityof drugs and guns.‘Common’ or conventional crimes and violence aresocio-pathologies that are traditionally and often automaticallyassociated with cities. But it should be clear that mostplaces in most cities are safe and that most types of commonstreet crime tend to reoccur at certain locations – hotspots –that are venues known to citizens and to public officials.They are therefore reasonably predictable events; indeed,some research suggests that, relative to crime prevention,the question that could best be asked first is not whocommitted the crime but where it happened. 1Cultures of fear and the mediaWhile the issues are complex, it is clear that fear of crime,violence and terrorism are global concerns, made increasinglysalient by all forms of media, including that provided bythe internet and sensationalized press reports. For instance,the media in Latin America plays a key role in constructingimages of fear, insecurity and violence due to the phenomenaland, at times, sensational coverage given to youthviolence and youth gangs. 2 Similarly, the British CrimeSurvey found that readers of national ‘tabloids’ were twiceas likely to be worried about violent crime, burglary and carcrime as people who read ‘broadsheets’, although it is notclear whether such readers were more predisposed to worryabout crime in the first place. 3The flood of information (and misinformation)reaches residents of megacities at an astonishing rate,especially as the internet, email and cell phones knittogether more of the world. The rapid diffusion of informationis now the lifeblood of industrialized and democratizedmarket economies where both conflict and enterprise aregenerally constrained by law. But the media also affects thathalf of the world’s population that is described by some asfalling within the unregulated ‘shadow economy’, in whichviolence rather than the state’s rule of law is the ultimate‘arbiter’ of disputes. As discussed below, burgeoning criminalnetworks – called by some the ‘sinister underbelly ofConventional crimesand violence aresocio-pathologiesthat are traditionallyand oftenautomaticallyassociated withcitiesFear of crime,violence andterrorism are globalconcerns, madeincreasingly salientby all forms ofmedia