Urban regeneration projects and crime: evidence from Glasgow

This study investigates the effects of urban regeneration on crime, leveraging recent large-scale regeneration projects – called Transformational Regeneration Areas (TRAs) – in Glasgow, Scotland. We employ a difference-in-differences approach that makes use of variation in both the timing of TRA implementation, and in proximity to these areas to measure exposure to urban regeneration projects. Our findings are consistent with changing neighbourhood composition and the elimination of physical spaces that harbour criminal activity driving local crime reductions. We find a large and significant reduction in crime within 400 metres of TRAs but this effect fades as we move further away. Simultaneously, we find no evidence of city-wide reductions in crime after urban regeneration.