Terrorism, Risk and the Global City - Towards Urban Resilience - Grand Format

For twenty years London has been at the forefront of countering the risk of international terrorism. Since the early 1990s when its main financial areas were systematically attacked by Irish republicans, a series of physical changes were implemented which sought to design-out terrorism often through the use of advanced technology and so-called 'rings of steel' which encircled the vulnerable areas.
In parallel to these interventions new financial and administrative measures were implemented in order to develop collective approaches to risk management. In the early years of the twenty-first century, London has had to come to terms with the expanded threat and modus operandi of international terrorism. In time, pre-existing systems of counterterrorist security and management have evolved significantly and broadened in geographical scope across much wider areas of London.
After the events of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington, a major attack against London was seen as inevitable and on July 7, 2005, a series of devices exploded on the transport system killing 52 people. This series of events occurred the day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games, whose organisers now have to confront the enormity of security planning for such a mega-event. In an attempt to deal strategically with the changing nature of the terrorist threat facing London, city-wide and multi-stakeholder resilience strategies have been increasingly developed both to protect from further attack or to 'bounce-back' from terrorist incidents as quickly as possible.
The success of London in developing these strategies and the experience its security managers have built over many years of counter-terrorism activity means that lessons from London have been increasingly transferred to other countries and particularly to other global cities. By illuminating the material and managerial considerations involved in developing the counterterrorism approaches deployed in London, this book contributes to the current debate about terrorism and urbanism against the context of new security challenges facing western nations and their cities, and how, as a result, they attempt to enhance their resilience.