ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the "policing" of boundaries and interfaces in Belfast, its effect on people and on the built environment. By "policing" the chapter does not simply refers to the activities of the institution of the police but to the practices and beliefs of communities that continue to divide urban space. It looks at ways that projects and policies are attempting to overcome these difficulties in the light of actual and potential investment in the city. Sectarian disturbances were still common and in 1935 riots in the Docks area of Belfast left seven Protestants and three Catholics dead and 430 Catholics and sixty-four Protestants forcibly evicted from their homes. It is vitally important to recognize the role played by social class in the way people experience territorial polarization and violence. The range of interests involved in "policing" territory in Belfast is heterogeneous and multi-layered.
