As cities serve as an economic motor, this scenario is likely to threaten national, economic and human development in many countries. The detrimental effects of urban crime are not relegated to poor cities alone. In fact, urban crime and the fear of violence have a significant impact on economic development in affluent cities. The abandonment of neighbourhoods by their most positive elements and the decrease in consumer traffic drive businesses out. House values drop, buildings deteriorate and taxes are no longer available to pay for services.
Industries opt for other sites and so the cycle continues.
The total represents about 7 per cent of the gross national product of the United States. The per capita costs of the police, courts and corrections, private security and goods stolen are of a similar order for most industrialized countries. The economic costs of lives ruined will be lower in countries with lower rates of murder and higher for countries with higher rates of murder. Additionally, although the dollar-value of lives ruined may be lower owing to the low wage scales, the human costs in developing countries and countries in transition may be greater owing to the younger ages of the victims. On the global level, the economic cost of the harm done by urban violence probably exceeds several trillion dollars.