A research team has analyzed the impact residential environment plays on crime rates. reports the Herald Gyeongje.
Taking the crime rates for six major crimes over the last three years in 16 dong in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, the team found that those who live in ilban jutaek are more exposed to crime than those who live in apartments.
They believe this due to the access controls found in apartments such as security guards. Apartments tend to be far from places like bars and entertainment establishments, too.
The study also found that neighborhoods with lots of single-person households and foreigners are more dangerous, too. They warned, however, that we shouldn’t necessarily take this to mean that they are dangerous because these people commit a lot crimes. Since most foreigners and single-person homes are “outsiders,” they can become criminals, but they are also likely to be victims, they said.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Poorer people live in jutaeks than in apartments. Apartments are more isolated, walled off, guarded. Jutaeks are not.
Agreed. This really relates to the disparity of conditions created by differences in wealth, rather than by differences in the number or nationality of a household’s residents. People, whether single or not, or non-Korean or not, are simply more insulated from crime if they live in apartments with CCTVs, electronic locks and security guards, and those places cost a lot more than jutaek do.
Chicken and egg, isnt this? Are the conditions created by the differences in wealth or do other underlying factors create the differences in wealth? We aren’t equal, time to stop pining for equality.
Foreign workers are usually put in the shittiest of accommodations by their employers in the shittiest of neighborhoods. If there are foreign people committing crimes then arrest them, but in the early mornings when I would wake up to the sounds of domestic violence in my old one room, it was people screaming Korean at each other.
It’s government policy first and demographics also. Older people abandoned by family members those patches of jutaek that always seem to ring the high-rises. And, yes, I admit that I invite people to my jutaek, to break the law and teach them English
I understand the first half of the question – ‘Are the conditions created by differences in wealth[, between neighborhoods with jutaek and neighborhoods with apartments]‘ – and commented on that already. The second half of the question – ‘or do other factors create the differences in wealth?’ – in particular, its relevance to either the article or my comment, isn’t clear. Do you mean ‘or do other factors create those conditions’? If so, I’d guess ‘yes’.
At any rate, I’m supposing that you didn’t mean that I’m ‘pining for equality’ here.
Its easy: we are not equal, we have different levels of intelligence, talents, sociability, etc. These are the reasons why there is a difference in wealth. Liberals would love to see this difference nullified and have jumped all over the symptom – difference in wealth – as if it were the cause, when it is the exact opposite. Equality will never be realized, and shouldn’t be attempted.
access control is the driver. specifically, bathroom windows. proximity to bars and entertainment districts has negligible impact.
Actually, a CCTV service only costs 50000 to 70000 won per month, depending on which company you deal with. If you live in a jutaek that doesn’t have CCTV, your landlord is a cheapskate.
That’s a very simplistic view of things. Not all wealthy people deserve or have earned their wealth, not all poor people are stupid and lazy. Stupidity and criminality are neither exclusive to the wealthy or the poor.
My politics are very liberal and I completely believe in everyone having as equal an opportunity as possible to succeed in life. People who lucky to be born into wealthy families have more chances in life. It is possible to be a success when not born into money, but it’s a lot harder. I have a lot more respect towards people who have made their own money rather than relying on daddy’s fortune to become wealthy and important.
I live in a really nice, hi-rent district apartment. But the guards – both the one at the 1st floor entrance and the one in the underground parking garage – are next to useless at night. They literally lay out on the floor and go to sleep. Yes – the CCTV cameras record everything. But anything you see in the recordings would all be after the fact and any crook with an ounce of brains would make sure his face can’t be seen by the cameras. It probably wouldn’t be until at least the next morning that anyone found out that they had been robbed.
Thats so utopic. Its usually the case that when people try making this view a reality, millions die.
I agree that a lack of CCTV use is probably related to a miserly approach to security, but it’s also not difficult to find residences without it. I suppose other factors may also create a difference in crime rates, but I still think the difference relates to security systems and real estate values.
Hmm – that’s me above. Why am I listed as ‘guest’?
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