Cities, Crime, and Carcerality: Beyond the Ecological Perspective

Abstract

This article examines how urban ecology influences planning scholarship on crime and how critical carceral studies might expand it. While the ecological framework leads planners and scholars in cognate disciplines to explore the social, economic, and physical dimensions of crime, its lack of attention to criminal justice policies and practices can prove limiting. To rectify this, this article reviews critical carceral studies. It casts into relief how intensifications in criminal justice policies, transformations in their social functions, and their role in aiding redevelopment affect geographies of crime. It concludes by exploring how these insights may be incorporated in planning scholarship.