URBAN SECURITY AND SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, IN NEW YORK CITY: PROJECTION OF THREATS ONTO A CITY AS A TARGET AND MEASURES TO AVERT THEM OR MINIMIZE THEIR IMPACT. IN: TERRORISM. REDUCING VULNERABILITIES AND IMPROVING RESPONSES. U.S.-RUSSIAN WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS.

This chapter on urban security and September 11, 2001 in New York City is from a book that gathers papers and proceedings from workshops held between 2001 and 2003 of meetings of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the National Academies of Science (NAS, United States), focusing on reducing vulnerabilities and improving responses to terrorism. In this chapter, the author discusses measures to avert or minimize the impact of threats on a city as a target of terrorism. The author outlines the threats that can be aimed at a city, including chemical attacks (explosives and poisons); biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks; and cyber, electromagnetic, and psychological attacks. A city houses a complex interacting system of people, buildings, infrastructures (utilities, roads, railroads, ports, airports), hospitals, schools, churches, businesses, government, military bases, and patterns of life. The author stresses that each threat to a city can target one or more of these interacting systems or activities. The author outlines 10 principles and observations, then applies each to the situation of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City. The author calls for a comprehensive system view of a city that explicitly addresses the interdependence of components and overall vulnerabilities. One additional section outlines how universities, such as Polytechnic University in New York, can play a significant role in helping a city address threats to its security.