http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/21/science/sci-graffiti21
Netherlands researchers test the "Broken Windows" theory. (Thank you guest speaker Charlie Branas of the Epidemiology Department for bringing this up).
The researchers methodologically added graffiti and trash to select locations in select neighborhoods.
It resulted that the inverse of the Broken Windows Theory held true. Graffit and Trash accumulated exponentially in accordance with the amount of trash and graffiti added by the researchers.
A wonderful study in behavior science and city planning.
I love this kind of study because it bolsters the idea of psychogeography introduced to me by the Situationist movement. It also suggests that human behavior can be significantly sculpted and influenced by sculpting the built environment.
The eternal question: how do we sculpt the built environment to encourage humane, respectful, and longterm ecological behavior?
