Relações socioespaciais dos crimes de furto e roubo na subprefeitura de Itaquera, São Paulo/SP - Brasil

Abstract

Introduction: Theft and robbery are property crimes that differ from each other, involving the theft of belongings from others. Understanding these crimes is important for urban planning, as they are correlated with socioeconomic and urbanization variables. The city of São Paulo had almost 8 million cases of theft and robbery in 20 years. This dissertation aims to analyze the spatial patterns of these crimes in the Itaquera subprefecture and their relationships with urban socio-spatial attributes. Objective: The dissertation seeks to understand the spatial patterns of theft and robbery in the Itaquera subprefecture of São Paulo and their relationship with urban socio-spatial attributes. The choice of study area is due to its importance in understanding the spatial patterns of crime. Methodology: The dissertation is an exploratory study, based on a literature review and analysis of secondary data on theft and robbery crimes from 2017 to 2021. The data were acquired through the São Paulo State Secretariat of Public Security and georeferenced using a Geographic Information System, allowing for the estimation of their spatial pattern using the non-parametric point process intensity technique, called Kernel density. The data were also grouped by census tract for regression analyses with socioeconomic variables. Results: The temporal analysis revealed that weekdays had the highest incidence of theft and robbery crimes, and the nighttime period from 6 pm to 11:59 pm accounted for more than 50% of the crimes, corroborating the Routine Activity Theory. The results also showed that central areas with high pedestrian and commercial activity had a higher concentration of crimes, while trip-generating centers such as enclosed urban parks appeared to be a deterrent for crimes. Traffic lights had little influence, shopping centers had limited influence, and bus stops demonstrated spatial relationships with higher concentrations of crimes. The analyzed socioeconomic factors did not show correlations with crime incidence. Conclusion: This dissertation serves as a potential tool for social impacts, as its results provide a better understanding of the elements that influence the occurrence and spatial distribution patterns of the studied crimes, contributing to the development of future public policies for the prevention and combat of property crimes in the city of São Paulo.