Atmospheres of (counter)terrorism in European cities

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Simon Runkel
• Subject Area: Human Geography
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 440838216

Terrorism is a profoundly urban phenomenon. In this project, we define terrorism as ideologically motivated acts of violence which are directed towards a general population, seeking to produce fearful feelings beyond those directly impacted by that act. Cities in Europe are increasingly redesigned in a militarised fashion in response to such attacks. Functions traditionally associated with state boundaries are becoming an increasingly integral part of the policy discourse and (infrastructural) spaces of urban security. Recent terrorist acts are shifting away from high-profile attacks against securitised spaces, and attacking instead 'soft targets' (everyday spaces e.g. shopping promenades) which are difficult, if not impossible, to secure. Urban security cannot be achieved via traditional planning focused on hardening infrastructure, without also altering the experience of public space. In other words, in the face of terrorism urban public spaces undergo not only material changes, but are also changed atmospherically - that is to say, in their felt quality as shared spaces.As such, we argue that there is more to security and counterterrorism in cities than hardened infrastructures and emergency operations. What we still don't know in detail, is how counterterrorism is changing the experience of the city for millions of urban residents. We therefore adopt the notion of atmosphere as a lens of thinking through and interpreting the individual and collective felt experiences of urban residents amidst counter-terror measures and terror threats. Specifically, the project asks: How do terror threats and security responses change the atmosphere of public space in European cities? What are the atmospheric implications of counterterrorism for social encounters in crowded public spaces in European cities? How does the felt experience of counterterrorism and security translate across diverse urban communities?The project is an unprecedented, large-scale qualitative and quantitative international comparison of how counterterrorism and urban security interact with our everyday experience of cities in Europe. The project is based upon an international questionnaire survey focused on perceptions of terrorist threat in the ordinary experience of the urban space and the daily activities of the inhabitants of France, Germany, and the UK, and in-depth research in 5 European cities with contrasting histories of attacks, threat level, and planning/policy responses (Berlin, Birmingham, Nice, Paris, and Plymouth). It engages with urban residents and stakeholders involved in urban security/planning. The project adds empirical knowledge to ongoing scholarly debates in social and cultural geography. Moreover, the project will provide key insights for practitioners (urban planners, security agencies and the wider public). This allows to produce original and usable evidence on how counterterrorism impacts on the shared felt qualities (atmosphere) of urban spaces.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France, United Kingdom
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Sara Fregonese; Dr. Damien Masson