There is plenty of debate about what makes one neighborhood safe, while others experience high incidences of crime. Recent Wharton research looks at the role that urban planners have to play, analyzing high resolution data about cities, such as population density or zoning, to help evaluate how efficient their built environment is in promoting “vibrancy,” and to potentially guide future urban development.

“I’m obsessed with this idea of vibrancy,” says Wharton statistics professor Shane T. Jensen , explaining that contemporary urban hypotheses suggest that positive, healthy activity or energy in a neighborhood helps discourage crime. Jensen is co-author of the paper , which uses Philadelphia as a case example.…