The War on Terror and the Normalisation of Urban Security

This book explores the processes by which, in the 20 years after 9/11, the practices of urban security and counter-terrorism have impacted the everyday experiences of the Western city. Highlighting the localised urban responses to new security challenges, it reflects critically upon the historical trajectory of techniques of territorialisation and physical protection, urban surveillance and the increasing need for cities to enhance resilience and prepare for anticipated future attacks and unpacks the practices and impacts of the intensification of recent urban security practices in the name of countering terrorism. Drawing on over 25 years of research and practical experience, the author utilises a range of international case studies, framed by conceptual ideas drawn from critical security, political and geographical theory. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, war studies, urban studies, geography, sociology, criminology, and the growing market of security and resilience professionals, as well as non-academic audiences seeking to understand responses to terrorist risk.

Jon Coaffee is a professor in Urban Geography in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom and is an international expert in counter-terrorism, security and urban resilience. His work includes Terrorism, Risk and the City (2003); The Everyday Resilience of the City: How Cities Respond to Terrorism and Disaster (2008); Terrorism, Risk and the Global City - Towards Urban Resilience (2009); Sustaining and Securing the Olympic City (2011); Urban Resilience: Planning for Risk Crisis and Uncertainty (2016); Futureproof (2019) Resilience and Planning: Planning's Role in Countering Terrorism (2020).

Part 1: The search for urban security - Introduction: Security and the urban imagination - The city as target - Detonation boulevards Part 2: Conventional tactics and techniques of urban security - Padded bunkers - Territorial security and the panoptical gaze - The fearful shock of 9/11 and the rise of military and urban geopolitics Part 3: The longer term implications of 9/11 - Normal protective streetscapes - Preparation and anticipation in the global War on Terror - Everyday terror prevention Part 4: The future of urban security - Towards impenetrable and smart security - Pop-up security and the politics of exceptionality - Conclusions: Normalising urban security