1st Edition

Cities in a Time of Terror: Space, Territory, and Local Resilience Space, Territory, and Local Resilience

By H.V. Savitch Copyright 2008
    292 Pages
    by Routledge

    296 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book is about urban terror - its meaning, its ramifications, and its impact on city life. Written by a well-known expert in the field, "Cities in a Time of Terror" draws on data from more than a thousand cities across the globe and traces the evolution of urban terrorism between 1968 and 2006. It explains what kinds of cities have become prime targets, why terrorism has become increasingly lethal, and how its inspiration has changed from secular to religious. The author describes urban terrorism as an attempt to use the city's own strength against itself, forcing it to implode, and delineates three basic logics of terrorist choices for targeting cities. The book also includes a discussion of local resilience - the city's capacity to bounce back from attack - and suggests how that can be sustained. Examples from New York, London, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Moscow, Paris, and Madrid illustrate the book's central themes.

    List of Illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgments; Part 1. Background and Theory; 1. Sketching Urban Terrorism; 2. The Evolution of Urban Terrorism; 3. The Fear Factor; Part 2. The Geospatial Features of Urban Terrorism; 4. Terror's Spaces: Identity, Haunts, and Nodes; 5. Decontrolling Territory; Part 3. Policy Reponses and Local Resilience; 6. Surveillance and Shrinkage; 7. Sustaining Local Resilience; Part 4. Conclusions; 8. Restoring a Self-Affirming City; Appendix; Notes; References; Index; About the Author.

    Biography

    H.V. Savitch is the Brown and Williamson Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Louisville. He has published ten books and monographs. His co-authored work with Paul Kantor, Cities in the International Marketplace, was named Best Book in the urban field by the American Political Science Association. Professor Savitch has authored more than seventy scholarly articles and has received numerous awards for teaching and scholarship. He has been a Fulbright Scholar (France), a Lady Davis Fellow (Israel), and is a former president of the Urban Politics Section, American Political Science Association. He also served as a consultant to former mayor of New York City David Dinkins, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Mayors’ Urban Summit, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.