Cities, Development, Terrorism

I've recently had a chance to catch up on some reading.  Edward Ziegler has an interesting piece entitled "American Cities and Sustainable Development in the Age of Global Terrorism:  Some Thoughts on Fortress America and the Potential for Defensive Dispersal II" in a recent symposium, 30 Wm & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol'y Rev. 95 (2005).  Ziegler reviews the history of "defensive dispersal" away from cities in times of war or threat, and discusses efforts to "harden" cities as a means of protecting against terrorist threats.  Ultimately, he argues that urban sprawl coupled with failure to maintain key infrastructure is itself a risk, and that significant costs of security preparations are adversely affecting cities.  He urges use of "new urbanist" development strategies (characterized by higher density, mixed use, and more integrated pedestrian-friendly development) to increase the density of older suburbs and outlying areas.

If you're interested in these issues, you might want to take a look at Glaeser & Shapiro's 2001 paper, Cities and Warfare:  The Impact of Terrorism on Urban Form, available throught the National Bureau of Economic Research