Where Shootings Occur A Fieldwork Analysis of Urban Ground Floors, the <i>Rez de Ville</i>

Shootings typically occur in neighbourhoods marked by high crime rates and broader socioeconomic challenges, but little is known about the characteristics of the places where they occur. Using the concept of the rez de ville, a fieldwork protocol was created to evaluate seventy shooting locations in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. In this article, we identify when and where most shootings occur and assess whether the inspection of the rez de ville as a unit of analysis helps explain the nature of places of violence. The records are from the official Swedish Police database containing information on the date of the shooting, time of day, type of injury, and geographical coordinates for cases from November 2016 to March 2020. Combining insights from environmental criminology theory and the idea of shootings as acts of public performance, we search for clues as to why and how these settings become places of aggressive behaviour. Shootings can be seen as acts of public performance because they are intentional, dramatic actions intended to convey a specific message to an audience. These incidents mostly feature young men deliberately harming or killing others in conflicts stemming from personal differences and/or criminal disputes. Our findings both support and challenge widely accepted principles in environmental criminology. Shootings happen in the evening, often during the weekend. They occur in visible core areas of poorer but well-maintained deprived peripheral neighbourhoods. These settings may play a role in the stage setting for the shootings, which become acts of public performance used to reinforce their status within criminal groups. We conclude by reflecting on these findings and establishing an agenda for future research.