The Pen or the Sword: A Situated Spatial Analysis of Graffiti and Violent Injury in Vancouver, British Columbia

Abstract

Graffiti is a ubiquitous feature of the urban landscape commonly perceived to be a symptom of disorder, deprivation, and violence. Broken windows theory asserts that it is also a cause. To examine this, we conduct a geographic correlation study of graffiti and violence using geographic information systems. A strong spatial covariation is observed, with spatially dependent residual clusters suggesting that the graffiti–violence relationship is context dependent and varied. Ferrell and Weide's spot theory provides a lens for situating hot spots and facilitating a more nuanced interrogation of graffiti and violence in several Vancouver neighborhoods. We advocate for situated spatial analyses of interpersonal violence to inform public health interventions and advance policymaking beyond the popular aesthetic symbolism of urban space.

涂鸦是城市地景中随处可见的特徵，并且一般被视为失序、匮乏与暴力的徵兆。破窗理论则认为，涂鸦同时也是这些问题的肇因。为了检视此一论点，我们运用地理信息系统，对涂鸦与暴力进行了地理相关性研究。我们观察到强大的空间共变关係，并有着空间上具依赖性的剩馀集群，指出涂鸦与暴力的关係取决于脉络、且有所变异。法洛与韦德的热点理论，提供了置放热点、并促进更细緻地探讨几处温哥华邻里中的涂鸦与暴力之视角。我们提倡对人与人之间的暴力进行置于情境式的空间分析，以提供信息让公共卫生进行介入，并促进能够超越城市空间流行美学象徵符号的政策制定。

El grafiti es un rasgo ubicuo del paisaje urbano, percibido comúnmente como síntoma de desorden, privación y violencia. La teoría de las ventanas rotas asegura que aquello es también una causa. Para examinar esta cuestión, llevamos a cabo un estudio sobre la correlación geográfica del grafiti con la violencia usando sistemas de información geográfica. Se observó una fuerte covariación espacial, en la que las agrupaciones residuales espacialmente dependientes sugieren que la relación grafiti-violencia depende del contexto y es variada. La teoría del punto preferido de Ferrel y Weide dispone de una lente para situar los puntos calientes y facilitar una interrogación más matizada del grafiti y la violencia en varios barrios de Vancouver. Nosotros abogamos por análisis espaciales situados de violencia interpersonal para informar intervenciones de salud pública y avanzar en el diseño de políticas que vayan más allá de los simbolismos estéticos populares del espacio urbano.

Key Words:

• broken windows theory
• graffiti
• spatial analysis
• urban geography, violence

关键词:

• 破窗理论，涂鸦，空间分析，城市地理学，暴力。

Palabras clave:

• teoría de las ventanas rotas
• grafiti
• análisis espacial
• geografía urbana
• violencia

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of the British Columbia Trauma Registry, with many thanks to Tracey Taulu and Nasira Lakha.

Funding

This work was conducted under the generous support of GEOIDE (Project SII-54).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Blake Byron Walker

BLAKE BYRON WALKER is a PhD student in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5K 2B4, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include in GIScience in medicine, head and neck cancers, and spatial epidemiology.

Nadine Schuurman

NADINE SCHUURMAN is a professor in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5K 2B4, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. She is also a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. Her research focuses on GIScience methods for improving population health data and supporting spatial analysis. This includes health service location analysis, spatial epidemiology of trauma in sub-Saharan Africa, GIS-enhanced injury surveillance, and data linkage enhancement between multiple sources using semantic web technologies.