ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND TREE CANOPY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to analyze the relationship between tree canopy and violent crime in the city of Austin, Texas. Using only recent 2022 data on violent crime and the most up-to-date data on tree inventory in Austin, a Heat Map was generated to assess the density of the crime data source. The Aggregation of Points was made to assess the density of tree inventory. A Tree Priority data map was also used to build upon by joining the crime data to it and creating a Bivariate Choropleth map from the output. Median Household Income was analyzed against crime to determine whether low-income households are areas that might benefit the most from the planting of more trees. Furthermore, a Pareto (80/20) analysis was created, where violent crimes were aggregated based on the closest input comparison polygon feature. Police station locations, policing districts, and parkways were also used to provide background features when analyzing the results. Data came mostly from the Austin Texas Open Data Portal and from the US Census Bureau. Preliminary results show an inverse relationship between tree canopy and crime rates. Ergo, where crime rate was high, tree canopy in that area was at its lowest. Results also indicate that the low-income households are in high need of tree priority compared to higher-income households. The results described in this analysis can help identify areas that may require more extensive attention from law enforcement agencies and establish better community effort to plant more trees in Austin.