Citation

Felson M. Crime Prev. Community Safety 2002; 4(1): 47-51.

Affiliation

Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group -- Palgrave-Macmillan)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Both the 'topography of crime' and the 'geography of crime' inform the field of environmental criminology. The former studies the localized and fine features of landscape and cityscape as these influence crime and its prevention. The latter examines the broader spatial swath in order to describe and make sense of crime. Both must be mastered for environmental criminology to gain ground as a science and to become a tool to prevent crime. This brief essay presents some challenges for the topography of crime, considers some of the specifics it might address, and shows how it might enrich environmental criminology by helping to describe landscapes and cityscapes as they affect criminal activities.