ABSTRACT
Crime, endemic violence, war and terrorism are among the most dramatic and disturbing manifestations of vulnerability in cities, which are uniquely prone to these threats given their economic, political and cultural significance. The relationship between conflict, violence and development is one of the perennial themes in Development Studies. The period since the 9/11 attacks in the United States, the 'Global War on Terror' and the preoccupation with 'fragile states' marks one such phase in which conflict and violence have been particularly salient with regard to how development is understood and development interventions prioritised. Human insecurity and vulnerability to violence is widely seen as 'a primary development challenge of the time'. The focus on human security has also emphasised the degree to which security issues pay increasingly little heed to international borderlines, as international terrorism proliferates and civil conflicts spill across multiple borders. Urban violence is a broad category that encompasses wide range of phenomena, from isolated crimes to outright warfare.
