ABSTRACT

This chapter addresses the unique governance structure of Antwerp and Brussels on the one hand and the implications of this structure for the security policy and the organisation of public policing in Antwerp and Brussels on the other hand. Antwerp and Brussels deal with similar urban challenges such as 'glocal' threats to local safety and public order, large and multiple ethnic background populations and huge socio-economic differences. The chapter point-outs a number of national dispositions that make Belgium unique and which play a role in making the security policy of Antwerp and Brussels so very different. It discusses Belgian State structure, in which the municipalities/cities, provinces, regions, communities and the national government play a role, generates complex governing arrangements for urban security. The chapter analyses the similarities and differences in the security policies of Antwerp and Brussels and the implications for the organisation of the public police.