Samenvatting

It is generally assumed that unsafety is typically urban, as the urban environment offers opportunities for criminality and contains in addition a lot of illegality and marginality. However, empirically grounded understanding of the relation between criminality and the social and physical characteristics of the urban environment is limited. Therefore this contribution explores the (spatial) connection between the social and physical environment and different forms of criminality. In this respect some common assumptions exist, such as the idea that the residential composition of neighbourhoods is strongly related to criminality; especially when residents are poor or immigrants. In addition, anonymous and massive urban environments would ask for criminality due to a lack of social control. Far less often does one point to the relation between criminality and the presence of a visiting population, as in city centres. Our analysis supports this relation: criminality in cities is connected with the opportunities offered in city centres. This insight is important for the organisation of police work.