Perceived safety is a major factor in a city's attractiveness and fear of crime can have a large impact on location decisions, with ensuing economic consequences. This book examines the role of security in urban development and its local policy implications. Comparing eleven European cities, it analyses how actual and perceived security is evolving, and what the economic, social and spatial consequences are of a changing perceived security.

A timely books that details the concerted effort and integration of new technology it takes to make communities safer for everyone. It’s a basic human right to feel and be safe in your community—where you live, work, and play. But, few people know or understand everything it takes to make this possible, including making high-tech solutions available to local law enforcement and first responders. From fire departments detecting fires within seconds with thermal imaging to police departments detecting gunfire immediately through gunshot detection sensors, technology continues to evolve daily. Even surveillance cameras have taken great strides from the grainy images of years past, and just one camera can make a difference (read about how police identified the Boston Marathon bombers through a department store’s video camera inside!). Safe City teaches the public how to harden targets and protect their homes, businesses, communities, themselves, and their loved ones. It takes a community effort to help reduce and prevent crime, and Safe City answers the questions people have along with pointing out many more that should be asked. “As someone who is politically active, and involved with urban development, this book is like a playbook for mayors, city council, and county commissioners.”—Topher Morrison, author of The Profitable CEO and managing director of Key Person of Influence “Provides a fact-filled insight into community policing . . . This a good read that delivers a solid understanding of the ‘how and why’ of the future of community policing in America.” —Retired Deputy Chief Metro Detroit Police Department

Examining the rising interest in quality-of-life offences, anti-social behaviour and incivilities in urban public spaces, this study explores the rising importance of policing, crime control and community safety policies in the context of the ongoing urban restructuring in old-industrial cities. This is achieved through an extensive exploration into the making and remaking of urban spaces in the city of Glasgow. In so doing, this book puts forward a strong and innovative theoretical argument. Framed in a critical Marxist perspective that draws on debates within German-speaking critical theory and Marxism, this study argues for the centrality of human social praxis in our understanding of contemporary cities. It engages with questions over the production of social space, a (fragmented) social totality and human agency, which so far have only received limited attention in Anglo-American debates.

First published in 2006, as numerous local authorities of European cities invest in the attractiveness of their urban areas in the hope of attracting new inhabitants and economic activities, safety has become a topical subject. Perceived safety is a major factor in a city's attractiveness and fear of crime can have a large impact on location decisions, with ensuing economic consequences. This book examines the role of security in urban development and its local policy implications. Comparing eleven European cities, it analyses how actual and perceived security is evolving, and what the economic, social and spatial consequences are of a changing perceived security. While crime has decreased in eight of the eleven cities, fear of crime has increased in all of them. This book discusses the factors influencing this fear, including the role of the media, the quality and maintenance of the built environment, socio-economic inequality and terrorism.