Straight talk! The Bosbach Column: Shattered windows and internal security. Does a run-down urban landscape encourage crime?

Has the ‘Broken Windows’ theory – which posits a link between run-down neighbourhoods and crime – lost its relevance? After all, it was published 40 years ago and has never been without its critics. A look at the latest NRW-Check, carried out by the opinion research institute FORSA on people’s fears regarding threats and crime, shows that a sense of safety is certainly linked to a well-maintained urban environment.

Read here the ‘Klartext!’ column by Wolfgang Bosbach on the link between vandalism and crime.