ABSTRACT
This short introductory chapter outlines the rationale for the Technical Working Group on the Confluence of Urban Safety and Peacebuilding Practice, an informal expert network co-facilitated by the United Nations Office at Geneva, UN-Habitat’s Safer Cities Programme, and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform that formed the basis for the present volume. The starting observation was that the factors driving violence and insecurity in urban areas, and insights into what can be done to reduce and mitigate such undesirable trends, are tackled by a plethora of academic fields and communities of practice that do not engage with one another in a systemic manner. Peacebuilders, in particular, have begun to explore more localized approaches that seek to work with affected populations in specific communities, but in many urban contexts such activities are rarely undertaken in tandem with urban planners, urban designers, and architects – stakeholders who potentially offer innovative solutions to reshape the material environments within which violence occurs. The book makes the case for pursuing a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral conversation about how to find creative ways of sustaining peace in the city.
