Citation

Alves Diniz AM, Stafford MC. Appl. Geogr. 2021; 131: e102459.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102459

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The landscape of Belo Horizonte, Brazil is heavily graffitied, especially in its downtown area. In preparation for hosting part of the games associated with the Federation International Football Association's (FIFA's) Confederations Cup of 2013 and World Cup of 2014, the local officials implemented a zero-tolerance policy toward graffiti and graffiti writers, seeking to beautify the city and reduce crime. The policy was inspired by broken windows theory, which associates physical disorder, including the presence of graffiti, with serious crimes. This paper examines this association and evaluates the effects of the zero-tolerance policy toward graffiti in downtown Belo Horizonte at three different times (2011, 2015, and 2017). Data on graffiti were collected during three fieldwork campaigns, and crime data came from official police records. Zero-inflated negative binominal regression was used to explore the association between graffiti and serious crime. The results were inconsistent with zero-tolerance policy expectations, as the number of graffiti tags has actually increased after the implementation of the policy, and there were no statistically significant associations between graffiti and serious crimes. Graffiti writers in Belo Horizonte are very selective of where and what they write, seeking areas where their tags can achieve greater visibility and longevity, adopting spatial behaviors contrary to that employed by criminals, who generally seek anonymity and invisibility.

Language: en

Keywords

Belo horizonte; Brazil; Broken windows theory; Graffiti