Ensuring a systemic approach to urban security

In this blog post for the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law, Peter Albrecht discusses how security and justice in urban areas are provided by a plurality of centrally governed state institutions and locally embedded service providers.

For this reason, it is argued, a systemic approach must be taken analytically, in policy and in practice. One of the implications of this approach is that rather than seeing local actors as simply challenging the state’s claim on the monopoly of security provision, a strong degree of integration is also the norm. Indeed, it is by understanding the workings of the system and the ensemble of actors, norms and practices that constitute it that positive change can be engendered.