ABSTRACT
Policing is integral to cities. The need to understand policing has reached a critical juncture, as the world's population has become an urban population for the first time (Davis 2007). Social scientists long ago noted this trend toward urbanism as a way of life (Wirth 1938), and the connection between cities and security is an age-old theme (Weber 1958). Yet these perennial issues have taken on new importance and are worth reflecting on at the beginning of this millennium. Our collection is about policing this twenty-first century urban world. It comprises sixteen original chapters written by prominent international scholars. These contributing authors are experts in criminology, geography, sociology, political science, anthropology, urban planning, socio-legal studies, or Asian studies. They explore developments in cities across the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, China, France, Georgia, Germany, Mexico, and South Africa and thus focus on cities of the Global North, on metropolises of the South, and cities continuing to transition from communist rule in the East.
