Crime in Transit Environments: Lessons from Stockholm (Sweden) and São Paulo (Brazil) Metro Systems

In this article, we discuss lessons learned from assessing crime and public disorder in two major metro systems: Stockholm (Sweden) and S?o Paulo (Brazil). We compare temporal and spatial patterns of crime in these metro systems in two national contexts, then we compare findings from these two case studies to reason about the influence of the environment on crime and public disorder. Data from the respective transportation companies are used as the basis for the analysis, which involves Geographical Information Systems (GIS), fieldwork and modelling. Inner city metro stations but also end stations tend to concentrate more crime than stations in any other parts of the city. More than location in the city, results show that opportunities for crime at the stations are dependent on the stations’ environmental attributes, surroundings, and neighbourhood context. Crime prevention interventions must be crime specific and tackle crowded conditions at core stations especially at rush hours since they facilitate crime. The article concludes with directions for future research and suggestions for policy.