Omfgreenhair

Indeed, having security escorting your cargo hauler is a must. It's why mercenaries exist.
 
https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/10054-dealing-with-griefersresource-depletion/?p=42093
 
This is the official statement on claiming territory within safezones. the TL;DR  being that the more peopel living in an area, the higher the rent will be.  So, if you want to live in downtown LA equivalent of a safezone, you'll have to pay some high rents.
 
Also, a TCU (territory claim unit) is supposed to be a group effort, not something that can be deployed en masse. Although, if yo uare the guy with a lot of guns and a lot of people, you can have one claim on a planet and owning the planet by the oldest rule of "might makes right". I personally see TCUs as more of a citadel or fort than an actuall requirement, but that's just me. 
 
As for the real estate mafia, in EVE, the russian playerbase has a rental business set up where they charge rent on people to build inside their territory and do industry or PVE or w/e peple do. So yeah, real-estate mafia can be implemented one way or another

Fair enough, traveling all the way back is risky, but afaik there is indeed. However think of the jobs this creates: establish shipping-lanes, protection, bounty hunting, etc.
 
Again, trust the community to be creative enough. Also, interesting you mention the high-risk mafia because if the concept of hiring plots of ground within safe-zones (I'm a little lazy while writing this to actually scroll through the Q&A's to provide a source for either 'hiring plots' or the existance of multiple safe-zones since I'm quickly writing this during my coffee break xD) is a reality, it could be a real-estate mafia. In this example, hiring a plot of land means you have the building rights of course:
Example situation A.
"Found a new planet, buy up all the plots within the safe-zone, set up cargo storages, public spawn locations, food/drink areas, ship-repair and docking ports. Let the tax and rent heaven begin!"
There is no government that can prevent abuse of exploiting anyone who takes harbour there.

Let me surprise you there, check the current poll status. Sure it won't be representative to the entire community right now, but the trend is set. 
 
I work a stressful job during the day in a call-center. Kicking back, enjoying a cold one whiles on mining runs without people bothering me too much is quite relaxing. If bandits, pirates, reapers, grievers or junkers come out to have a swing at you, then you have a short excitement and feel all the more awesome when you get away. 
 
Come home, have another cold one and turn on Netflix while the ore is processing. I know exactly how to live a comfy life in video games.