Spatial- Physical Relationship Investigation between Population Density and Social Anomalies in Kermanshah City (Case Study: Crime of Drug Addiction)

Kermanshah is one of the major cities in the country that has encountered many problems in the process of urbanization during last two decades. This city has a high crime rate due to its special spatial, physical, and social conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study is investigation of spatial relationship between population density with rate of crime and hot-spot identification related to drug addiction in Kermanshah city. The research method is descriptive-analytic and applied type using Moran index and Kernal density estimation technique for urban hot-spot identification. Density classification method has been used to population estimation in statistical blocks of Kermanshah. The research population is addiction drug crimes which have occurred in the legal area of Kermanshah in 2011. Samples are 404 reported crimes of drug addiction in Kermanshah. The research findings indicate that the most important hot-spots of drug addiction are located in the southeast of Kermanshah. In fact, it includes the Jafarabad informal settlement area and Seyed Jamal-e-Din Assadabadi Boulevard, Rashidi intersection, Besat and Jamkaneh Streets. The spatial distribution of crimes is clustered and centralized pattern. There is a direct relationship between population density in these areas and rate of crime occurrence. Hence, most of hot-spot related to drug addiction are concentrated in densely populated areas of Kermanshah city. These areas have an inappropriate physical-space structure that led to less control and increased crime.