A Theoretical Analysis of the Concept of Place and Place Management in a New Approach to Criminology of Place

Problem statement: 

Insecurity has been one of the most enduring concerns of urban life over time, and security is one of the most important indicators of the quality of life in urban spaces. Meanwhile, the fields of criminology, environmental criminology, and place-based crime prevention approaches have undergone various changes. Place-oriented and micro-centric analysis of urban crimes is one of the new operational strategies to prevent crime. At present, concepts such as “place” and “place management” have found valuable roles in criminology. Despite their roles, they have been less considered. In the current readings of the concept of place, it has been reduced to its traditional macro- and meso-scale readings, and on the other hand, the technique of place management lies in the isolation of theoretical introduction and empirical application among domestic texts.

This article aims to analyze these two key concepts theoretically in the form of a correct epistemological classification system in line with the knowledge of environmental criminology and the criminology of place.

This study is qualitative and based on library studies and document analysis. Also, this study focuses on the systematic use of secondary documentary data for discovery, extraction, and classification in three basic conceptual areas, including “the concept of place,” “the concept of place management,” and “the approach of criminology of place.”

According to the results, the concept of place in specialized and interdisciplinary criminology literature has two levels: traditional reading and modern reading. Also, in modern readings, “place” has jumped significantly in at least three areas of “conceptual growth,” “knowledge growth,” and “utility growth” and requires a coherent reading. Therefore, place and place management are scientifically traceable from at least three angles: “criminology of place theories,” “crime prevention theories,” and “theories of policing.” In sum, through the theoretical positioning technique, both the semantic-conceptual system of “place” and its objective network were analyzed and interpreted.