Holistic Strategy for Urban Security
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HolisticStrategyforUrbanSecurityRichardG.Little1
Abstract:SinceSeptember11,2001,thevulnerabilitiestoterrorismofoururbanareas,andhowbesttoaddressthem,havebeensubjecttoconsiderablediscussion,debate,andreflexivedefensivemeasures.Althoughdirectphysicalresponsestosuchfrighteningeventsarecertainlyunderstandable,theyarenotbasedonatrueassessmentofrisk,nordotheynecessarilyrepresentaneffective,letalonecosteffective,approachtoaddressingthethreatofurbanterrorism.Thispaperwillexplorerecenttrendsinphysicalprotectionandofferobservationsonarationalbasisforevaluatingsecuritystrategies;somealternative,nonstructuralapproachestourbansecurity,andtheneedforrobustinstitutionswithwell-qualifiedpeopleincriticalpositionstodevelopandimplementthesestrategies.Itwillseektodemonstratethataholisticstrategythatincorporatestechnology,people,andinstitutionswillachievefargreaterlong-termsecurityaswellaspossibleancillarymitigationbenefitsfromotherhazards.
DOI:10.1061/͑ASCE͒1076-0342͑2004͒10:2͑52͒CEDatabasesubjectheadings:Security;Terrorism;Urbanareas;Blasteffects;Riskmanagement;Hazards.
IntroductionSinceSeptember11,2001,thevulnerabilitiestoterrorismofoururbanareas,andhowbesttoaddressthem,havebeensubjecttoconsiderablediscussion,debate,andreflexivedefensivemea-sures.Armedguardsandconcretebarriersappearedalmostimme-diatelyaftertheterroristattacks.Blast-resistantconstructionfea-tures,oncetheprovinceofmilitaryinstallationsandcriticalgovernmentfacilities,areincreasinglybeingconsideredforcom-mercialbuildings͑LiptonandGlanz2002;MCEER2002͒,asarechangestobuildingcodes͑CityofNewYork2003͒.Systemstodetectandinterdictchemicalandbiologicalagentsarealsounderdevelopmenttoprotectcitiesandtheiroccupantsfromtheeffectsofanattackutilizingtheseweapons͑Miller2003͒.Althoughdi-rectphysicalresponsestosuchfrighteningeventsarecertainlyunderstandable,theyarenotbasedonatrueassessmentofrisk,nordotheynecessarilyrepresentacomprehensiveapproachforaddressingthethreat.Infact,giventhelargenumberofassetstoprotectinevenamoderate-sizedcityandtheirwidelydispersedlocations,relyingsolelyonphysicalmeasurestothwartorbluntanattackmaynotbeaneffective,letalonecost-effective,ap-proachtoaddressingthethreatofurbanterrorism.Thispaperwillexplorerecenttrendsinphysicalprotection;offerobservationsonarationalbasisforevaluatingsecuritystrategies;givesomealter-native,nonstructuralapproachestourbansecurity;anddiscusstheneedforrobustinstitutionswithwell-qualifiedpeopleincriticalpositionstodevelopandimplementthesestrategies.Itwillseektodemonstratethataholisticstrategythatincorporatestechnol-ogy,people,andinstitutionswillachievefargreaterlong-termsecurityaswellaspossibleancillarymitigationbenefitsfromotherhazards.CitiesandTheirVitalSystemsThroughouthistory,citieshavebeenthelocusofenormouseco-nomic,social,andpoliticalactivity,supportedandenhancedbytheservicesprovidedbytheirinfrastructures͑NAE1986͒.Ifwethinkofinfrastructureasthedeliveryvehicleforthetotalityofservicesnecessarytosupporttheseactivities,thedefinitionofinfrastructuresystemsmustincludeinstitutionsandpeopleaswellaspipes,pumps,cables,switches,andthelike͑Little1999͒.Becauseofthis,thechallengeofensuringthecontinuityofvitalservicesinthefaceofterrorismandotherhazardsismorecom-plicatedthanjusttheprotectionofphysicalassets.Typically,hazardmitigationstrategiesforinfrastructurehavegenerallyaddressedfirst-ordereffects—designingrobustsystemstoresistextremeloadsimpartedbynaturaleventsormalevolentactssuchassabotageandterrorism.However,becausethesesys-temsdonotoperateindependently,strengtheningasinglesystemisseldomeffectiveinpreventingoutages.Forexample,followingthe1995Kobeearthquake,inadditiontoadequatewatersupplynotbeingavailable,thecommunicationandtransportationsys-temsalsofailed,makinganeffectiveresponsebyfireservicesimpossible͑MCEER1995͒.Urbaninfrastructuresareinherentlyinterconnectedandpar-ticularlyvulnerabletocascading-typefailuresfromasingleevent͑Little2002a͒,whichalsomakesthemdifficulttostrengthenef-fectively͑Gilbertetal.2003͒.Theconsequencesofthistypeofcascadingfailureofinterdependentsystemsinanurbanenviron-mentwerealmostexperiencedfollowingtheWorldTradeCenterattacksofSeptember11.ThecollapseoftheWorldTradeCentertowerscausedextensivedamagetotheslurrywallor‘‘bathtub’’thatsurroundedthebuildings’deepbasements͑Tamaro2002͒.Hadtheslurrywallfailed,thelikelyoutcomewouldhavebeendisastrous—thepossiblefloodingandmassivedisruptionofalargeportionofNewYork’sundergroundrailtransitsystemonwhichtheCitydependssoheavily:ThePATHtubeswerecentury-oldcast-ironstructures,probablybrittleinplaces,andnowatimmediateriskoffailure.Ifeitherofthembrokecatastrophically,theHudsonRiverwouldfloodintothefoundationhole,fillingitathigh