Much has been written about the hollowing out of British town centres in recent years with one publication claiming it has left behind ‘a wasteland of betting shops’. According to the Gambling Commission’s latest figures, however, there has been a 22% decrease in the number of betting shops in Great Britain between April 2019 – March 2020 and April 2022 – March 2023. Despite the rise of online/remote gambling, the land-based gambling sector remains a significant presence on the UK’s high streets. AFSG’s most recent major research grant to Tasos Kitsos and Emmanouil Tranos explores the relationship between the presence of gambling venues and gambling harms in the UK.
According to Kitsos, their research seeks to answer two main questions:
- Is there a spatial-temporal correlation between gambling venues, deprivation, and crime? If so, can this correlation be used to develop a new neighbourhood classification that highlights the risk of gambling harms?
- Does the establishment of gambling venues lead to more gambling harms, or do these venues simply follow harmful gambling behaviours?
Although there is an awareness of gambling harms as a public health issue, Prof. Kitsos argues that there is a distinct lack of evidence on the causal impact of gambling venues on individuals, neighbourhoods and society. By leveraging large datasets and using spatial analytics and econometric techniques, Kitsos and Tranos’ work aims to answer these questions. The policy implications of this research could stretch into areas such as planning, licensing and public health.
AFSG is pleased to be supporting this work and looks forward to following the development of the research over the coming months. You can find more information on all AFSG’s funded projects here.
Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling 