This report addresses three major threats to human security in cities, namely urban crime, insecurity of land and house tenure, and natural and human-made disasters. It pays particular attention to the underlying causes and the effects of these threats in the world, also analyzing several strategies and policies developed in response to these threats in different countries. The report adopts a human security perspective that places concern on the safety and security of people rather than states, and highlights concerns that can be addressed through urban policy, planning design and governance.

After the introduction, Part II addresses a broad array of cases of crime and violence in the world, which from 1980 to 2000 increased by 30 per cent. The report also shows how the impact of terrorist attacks on cities, although they are much less frequent in relation to other forms of violence, have worsened recently, creating generalized fears, the destruction of business, growth of the private security sector and of gated communities, and the diversion of public funds from social development towards public and private security.

Part III deals with insecurity in land tenure and forced evictions. Two million people are forcibly evicted every year in the world, while the most vulnerable to this threat are the one billion living in slums. Evictions are often linked to bulldozing of slums and informal enterprises in low- and middle-income countries, gentrification, infrastructural development and beautification projects. Forced evictions are also more prevalent in areas with the worst environmental conditions. Furthermore, the most vulnerable people are women, children and elders. Generally, evictions tend to increase, rather than ameliorate, the problems they are supposed to solve.

Part IV addresses disasters. Between 1974 and 2003, two million people in the world died, 182 million became homeless and 5.1 billion were directly or indirectly affected by natural disasters, while the reported economic damage in the world was US$ 1.38 trillion. Small-scale hazards are also considerable. For instance, 1.2 million die every year due to traffic accidents. Among the causes of disasters are rapid and unplanned urbanization, an overconcentration of economic wealth in cities, human-made environmental modifications, the expansion of slums, and ineffective urban regulations. There has also been a growth in the number and intensity of extreme-weather event disasters, to which climate change is likely to have contributed.

Yet the most relevant factor for vulnerability to these threats is poverty. The poor are often located in the environmentally worst territories and have limited access to assets or to services that might reduce their vulnerability, for instance through insurance. Therefore, the report stresses the need for policy responses that place people, poverty reduction and community participation at the centre. Part V analyzes several policy actions from different countries aimed at tackling these threats. It encompasses a broad spectrum of crime reduction policies from the most classical responses (based on legal and police action) to the most innovative (including community participation and an increased role for urban planning). Also, the chapter documents a number of recent policies aimed at reducing tenure insecurity, including legislation against forced evictions, policies on upgrading and regularization, titling and legalization. In terms of disasters, the report observes approaches to more effective land-use planning, improved risk mapping and institutional reforms among others. Finally, Part VI presents a summary of all the cases studied, while Part VII provides a statistical annex that compares indices of threats to security across the world.