Examining the Crime Concentration: Spatial Patterns of Burglary Crime in Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract Research shows that crime is spatially concentrated. However, most research on crime concentration has been conducted in U.S. or European cities. This study assessed whether the "law of crime concentration at place" applies to non-Western settings. This study intends to extend the law of crime concentration’s applicability to a different urban and cultural settings. I tested this by focusing on burglary incidents in Taipei City, Taiwan, from 2015 to 2019. I used data from the Taipei City Police Department, focusing exclusively on burglary over 5 years. I employed descriptive statistics, Lorenz curves, and Gini coefficients to quantify and visualize crime concentration at the micro-place level. The units of analysis are clusters of 90 housing units, similar to street segments used in other studies. Consistent with the law of crime concentration at place, burglary in Taipei City is significantly concentrated. Specifically, 51.3% of burglaries occurred in just 5% of micro-place units and 25.9% in only 1.7% of units. Over 80% of spatial units were burglary-free. The generalized Gini coefficient of 0.4967 indicates a noteworthy disparity in the distribution of burglary incidents across different micro-places. I found evidence of crime concentration in a non-Western setting, suggesting that similar patterns of crime distribution may exist across different cultural and geographic contexts. However, socio-economic factors such as residential density and poverty may influence the lower burglary rates in Taiwan than in the U.S. The study site is a densely populated urban setting that may not represent other regions or rural areas in East Asia. Further research is needed to explore the applicability of the law of crime concentration in diverse geographic and socio-economic contexts.