THIS STUDY OF URBAN OVERCROWDING IN CERTAIN DENSELY-POPULATED AREAS OF PANAMA CITY WAS UNDERTAKEN WITH TWO BASIC ASSUMPTIONS. ONE ASSERTED THAT OVERCROWDING CAUSES HIGHER CRIME RATES AND THE OTHER MAINTAINED THAT RURAL IMMIGRATION TO AN URBAN AREA CAUSES CRIME RATES TO INCREASE. THE CRITERIA USED TO MEASURE POPULATION DENSITY ARE DESCRIBED. PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT CONSTITUTES OVERCROWDING DIFFER AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND PLACES AND UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES. A SURVEY OF PANAMA CITY'S DISTRICTS WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE CORRELATION BETWEEN POPULATION DENSITY AND CRIME INCIDENCE. LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS PER SE IS NOT AS HIGH A CRIMINOGENIC FACTOR AS OVERCROWDING. IN CONCLUDING, THIS PAPER STRESSES THE FACT THAT NO ATTEMPTS ARE MADE HERE TO SYSTEMATICALLY STUDY THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL EFFECTS OF OVERCROWDING, ONLY TO ESTABLISH A LINKAGE BETWEEN DENSITY OF HABITATION AND CRIME RATES. TABULAR DATA, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO MANY DESCRIPTIVE VARIABLES, ARE PROVIDED IN THE TEXT, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NOTES ARE APPENDED. --IN SPANISH.