ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between urbanization and crime, and the arguments developed by students of cities to explain the relationship. It presents a time-series analysis of urbanization and rates of crime in nineteenth-century France and concludes that, at least with respect to serious offenses, urban life is not by itself criminogenic. The chapter examines generally the urbanization of Europe and its relationship with the emergence of civilization. It presents a time-series analysis of urbanization and rates of crime in nineteenth-century France. The relationship between urbanization and crime is probably close to invariant, at least in the minds of most students of crime. Urbanization refers to the proportion of a region's population that resides in areas designated as urban. Small, dispersed populations, such as those in rural areas, villages, and towns and villages restrict support for highly specialized goods and services.
