An Anatomy of Urban Terror: Lessons from Jerusalem and Elsewhere

Abstract

This paper examines the increased prevalence of urban terror and its spatial implications. Urban terror concerns territory, space and logistics, and is characterised by lowintensity, ambiguously bounded warfare. It is defined as attacks intentionally directed against non-combatants and key installations located in high-density, continuously developed, diversified environments. The research traces the collective experience of London, Moscow and Istanbul with extended attention paid to Jerusalem. Four patterns of urban terror are identified and used to conduct the analysis. These consist of terrorist attempts to: decontrol urban territory, cause instability and demonstrate vulnerability; launch repetitive attacks on specific spaces in order to create conditions of chaos; achieve proximity and access to targets; and, finally, a response to terror by authorities based on surveillance, partition, closure and shrinkage of urban space. A final section consists of analysing terror's impact on the economy and future of cities. Approaching Urban TerrorLike most complex phenomena, terror comes in different forms and is manifested in different ways. One way to understand urban terror is to treat it as a variant of the general category of terror. 1 This is done by isolating incidents of terror to those occurring uniquely in major urban centres, identifying operations specific to cities and illustrating their particular urban significance. My approach is to demonstrate the essential roles of territory and space in both producing and receiving urban terror. This approach elucidates how city space is affected by terror-as areas that may inadvertently host terror cells, as targets of collective violence and as territories experiencing serious commercial or social disruption. All of this is driven by questions about whether we can uncover common patterns that characterise urban terror and identify them. If so, how do these patterns shape urban space? What is their impact and how do cities respond to that impact? Ultimately, one must ask whether governmental responses are likely to thwart urban terror or feed into its objectives.I begin this inquiry by: taking up conceptual questions related to the nature and features of urban terror; explaining the rise in urban terror; exploring how terror manifests itself in space; and, examining the extreme situation of Jerusalem in order to show how these patterns are amplified and can lead to specific propositions. In all instances, I focus on the targets struck, why they were selected for attack and how authorities responded to particular patterns of attack. The methods used to carry out this investigation include qualitative and quantitative techniques. Data are derived from official documents and newspaper accounts-drawn from English, French, Hebrew, Russian and Turkish sources. Other data are taken from municipalities, national

Rethinking place in the study of societal responses to terrorism: Insights from Boston, Massachusetts (USA)

“…Understanding how people are actually interpreting their risk, and what they are likely to do in response, becomes important for managing the policy response to microscaled attacks. For example, in Jerusalem, chronic conditions of terrorism led to dramatic restrictions of individual freedoms and the shrinkage of public space, eventually causing severe economic disruption (Savitch, 2005). A similar economic disruption occurred in Italy, as international travellers curtailed visits in response to perceptions of Italy as a risky place (Greenbaum and Hultquist, 2006).…”

“…There is research about terrorism that has been conducted in a particular place (Savitch, 2005) and some that is about people in that place (Greenbaum et al, 2007), but there is little research examining place as the primary variable shaping experience of terrorism. Place has three meanings: it is a point on the Earth; it is a background for human action; and it is a subjective human understanding of the environment (Agnew, 1987).…”

The security-threat-community

“…The architecture of the city is recognised as a fundamental integer in the complex operations of urban conflict (Savitch 2005). During the Troubles 70 per cent of terrorist bombings were aimed at housing in the Belfast Urban Area (Bollens 1999).…”

Role of urban design and planning in disaster risk reduction

“…These high-profile sites have been used numerous times as spaces for public activity such as rallies and demonstrations as well as targets for terrorist attacks (Figure 3). As the governance sites are well protected (Pedahzur and Paran, 2003), terrorist attacks have often struck Jerusalem in many public areas, which are easy to access and host a large volume of people (Savitch, 2005).…”