1. The regional and urban dimension of crime in the EU
Hugo Poelman
DG Regional and Urban Policy
Economic Analysis and Policy Development Unit

2. Outline Policy context Results of previous regional data collections
Options for regional data
The urban dimension

3. Policy context
EU Cohesion Policy invests € 350 billion over seven years
Invested by cities, regions and MS
Crime can have a big impact on urban and regional economic development
Improving the capacity of the police force can be financed through Cohesion Policy
Important cross-border dimension of crime
Important variation within countries

4. Regional data collection
Covering most of the EU Member States at NUTS1, NUTS2 or even NUTS3 level
Showing territorial diversity depending on the category of crime
Border regions
Urban / rural diversity

5. Homicides
- External borders
- Some cities

6. Burglaries
- Cities - Border regions - Coasts

7. Car theft
- Border regions - Tourism destinations - Capital cities - More in EU15

8. Options for regional data
Investigate possibilities of
Larger thematic coverage
Better / more detailed regional coverage
Improved classification / definition
Options for re-use of existing data sources
Extracting from existing databases, e.g. by means of APIs
Solution already available?
Solution can be envisaged within a year or two?
Solution would need to be developed (with support)?
Collecting data via web questionnaire or Excel file?

9. The urban dimension Crime is often assumed to be higher in cities
The Urban Agenda for the EU
The SDGs include a specific indicator for cities SDG 11, but many other indicators are relevant at the city level including homicides
However, only meaningful if a harmonised definition of a city is used
TERCET extension to the NUTS Regulation provides a new legal framework for harmonised territorial definitions

10. European system of city definitions: degree of urbanisation
Cities
Towns and suburbs
Rural areas
Two-level classification
grid cells
local administrative units (municipalities)
Included in TERCET

11. Data by degree of urbanisation

12. European system of city definitions
Harmonised people-based definition of cities and functional urban areas (incl. commuting)
Based on 1 km² population grid
Joint EC-OECD development
Concepts included in the TERCET Regulation

13. Urban centres and cities
Grid-based urban centre relates to city (LAU2)
Example: Graz (AT)
Grid-based urban centre exceeds LAU2 boundaries
Solution: creation of a "greater city" (cluster of LAU2 units)
Example: Athens

14. Ensuring comparability of urban crime indicators
Determine to which territory the collected data actually relate
Apply the harmonised definition of cities (in accordance with TERCET)
Investigate opportunities of geo-referencing of crime events
Offers additional possibilities producing indicators at various territorial level
Provides more flexibility of indicator production in case of territorial changes (e.g. changes in city definition)