S7 Ep22: Chris Blattman on how organised crime takes over cities

This is an episode from VoxDev's new podcast series, Ideas in Development. This series has a separate podcast feed , where you can find every episode of Oliver Hanney and Kurtis Lockhart's conversations on cities. YouTube: Apple Podcasts: Spotify: Audioboom: Substack: VoxDev: How does organised crime take over a city – and can mayors act before it does? Chris Blattman, economist and political scientist at the University of Chicago, joins the Ideas in Development cities series to explain how street gangs evolve into powerful criminal confederations, why cities like Medellín can have low homicide rates and still be almost completely captured, and what the "terrible trade-off" between violence, criminal power and political corruption means for policymakers. We then discuss the perils faced by fast-growing African cities, where the conditions for organised crime to take root are quietly assembling. Check out the Africa Urban Lab:

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S7 Ep22: Chris Blattman on how organised crime takes over cities is an episode from VoxDev Talks by Audioboom.

This episode is 50:23 long.

This episode was published on May 1, 2026.

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