Analyzing Space-Time Dynamics of Theft Rates Using Exchange Mobility

Abstract

A critical issue in the geography of crime is the quantitative analysis of the spatial distribution of crimes which usually changes over time. In this paper, we use the concept of exchange mobility across different time periods to determine the spatial distribution of the theft rate in the city of Wuhan, China, in 2016. To this end, we use a newly-developed spatial dynamic indicator, the Local Indicator of Mobility Association (LIMA), which can detect differences in the spatial distribution of theft rate rankings over time from a distributional dynamics perspective. Our results provide a scientific reference for the evaluation of the effects of crime prevention efforts and offer a decision-making tool to enhance the application of temporal and spatial analytical methods.

Keywords

• crime
• exchange mobility
• spatial-time concordance
• rank correlation
• LIMA