Labeling Neighborhoods: Assessing the neighborhood level impact of vulnerable area designations on health, crime, and trust

Research problem: This project examines the impact that receiving a vulnerable area designation (utsatta områden) has on areas in Sweden from a longitudinal perspective.

The vulnerable area designation was created by the Swedish Police Authority with the intention of alleviating some of the negative effects caused by segregation.

However, there is little research on the impact that these designations have had on neighborhoods in the 9-years since their creation.

We will assess the impact of the vulnerable area designations across three outcomes which theoretically should have changed as a result of the program by asking: To what extent does receiving a vulnerability designation influence health, social cohesion, and crime in the areas that receive them?

We outline the possibility that receiving a designation will have both 1) intended consequences through the increase in resources and social programs and 2) unintended consequences through the stigmatizing effects that are associated with receiving the designation.Data and Method:This project will merge geolocated maps of the areas that received the designations, with data from the Swedish registers, longitudinal survey data, and crime data from Statistics Sweden.

We will analyze the impact of receiving a designation using a combination difference-in-difference and spatial regression discontinuity designs, to assess the broad impacts that this type of spatial marking has on segregated neighborhoods.Societal relevance:The high level of scientific impact that this project will have, is equally matched by the societal relevance that it will have in the wider community for policy makers, community members, civil society organizations and the police.

By providing valuable knowledge of the impacts of the vulnerable area designation on the areas that receive them, we will empower these actors with the information they need to engage with this policy.Plan for project realization:This project will take place over three years, with a year dedicated to the impacts on health, social cohesion, and crime.

The costs of the project are primarily associated with the salaries of the multidisciplinary research team, additional costs are budged for access to the Swedish registers and conference presentations.