More confirmation of the Broken Windows thesis

Lots of good stuff, as always, in Society Guardian, including this article: "Never mind crime, tidy up the garden: An area's 'liveability' is best guide to locals' happiness, says report" which reports on a Market Opinion Research International study:

"The way an area looks, including levels of litter and rubbish, scruffiness of gardens and the prevalence of high rise flats or open space, is a better guide to local residents' satisfaction with their surroundings than levels of deprivation, according to research out today. A report by the polling company Mori highlights the crucial importance of the visual quality of an area in determining quality of life.

A new "physical capital index" ranking local authority areas in England according to appearance - based on a clutch of factors including litter, pavement quality, congestion, and preponderance of flats over five storeys or terraced houses (both viewed negatively) - is dominated at the top by rural areas, such as Mid Suffolk, Wealden, Chichester, South Cambridgeshire and the Malvern Hills, while urban boroughs, particularly those in London, cluster at the bottom."

Also, check out this report from the Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment: "Physical capital: how great places boost public value."

There are many new good reports on the CABE site right now, I just haven't had time to write about them.

Also see in the April archive, my weblog entry: "Urban Health, Nasty Cities, Broken Windows, and Community Efficacy."

H Street building owned by local realtor John Formant. Photo from the Washington Post.