NCJ Number
198206
Editor(s)
Christina Rosan,
Blair A. Ruble,
Joseph S. Tulchin
Date Published
2000
Length
98 pages
Annotation
This report contains papers, policy briefs, and discussions that outline the most basic challenges facing the world's cities.
Abstract
This report includes, for example, the chief of Population Policy at the United Nations citing world population growth as a factor contributing to instability, with it being primarily an urban phenomena in developing countries. A senior researcher from the Worldwatch Institute discusses environmental stresses, unemployment, small arms proliferation, and inequality as being the primary contributors to the increase in urban violence and crime. A professor of geography at the University College London reviews the urban security debate and argues there is no consistent or meaningful relationship between urbanization and security. He assesses current literature on urbanization and security and concludes that a city's success or failure to create a secure environment depends on specific policies of the city government not on urbanization itself. A collection of excerpts from other research is included in this report and constitutes a major contribution to future investigation of the challenges of urbanization, population growth, environmental degradation, and security. References