ABSTRACT
9/11 ushered in concerns over new types of catastrophic terrorism that required different kinds of counter-response, notably at the city-scale. This chapter first spotlights the reactive and makeshift security put in place to provide protective security to buildings and public locations to demonstrate that the state was actively seeking to protect the public. Second, evolving types of urban security research approaches at this time are unpacked through ideas of ‘new military urbanism’ or ‘critical urban geopolitics’ that challenged orthodox positions and concepts and saw post-Cold War military doctrine remodelled. Third, this chapter reflects upon the immediate reactions of commentators regarding the shape and function of the future city which often promoted the reintroduction of defensible space and advanced surveillance technology as solutions to the immediate post-9/11 terrorist threat. The predicted social and political impacts of urban defences in the wake of 9/11 are also discussed, alongside the growing political rhetoric that emerged where we should all prepare for life in a constant state of emergency with its authoritarian-style politics and changing legal context. This chapter ends with a discussion about one key outcome of new militarised counterterrorism; a normalisation of fear and the need to secure, as leitmotifs of normal, everyday life.
