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Introduction5measures that can help to alleviate their worst consequences.Threats to urban safety and security are also popularlyunderstood by ‘conventional wisdom’ in ways that do notreadily lead to solutions or assignment of responsibility forthem. Upon greater examination, however, these forms ofconventional wisdom do not stand up as accurate descriptionsof the problems at hand. Natural and human-madedisasters are frequently regarded as unpredictable, yet,closer analysis demonstrates that their probabilities arewithin reasonably tight bounds in time and place – forexample, monsoons and hurricanes occur within certainmonths in specific regions of the world. As such, they areamenable to policy and technical responses that can alleviatetheir impacts. An analogous approach applies to crime andviolence, which tends to occur in specific sites, eitherdirected at persons or property, with a set of motivationsthat are predictable within individual urban cultures (i.e. tosteal property to buy drugs in some cities or to define gangterritories in others). Crime and violence are not random; assuch, they can be studied in order to address underlyingcausal factors, as well as through direct measures to confrontthem. For example, some cities are already known as safe,while others seem to have cultivated ‘cultures of fear’,frequently with a major role played by the local media. Yetother cities have become ‘safer’ over the years from crimeand violence. It is possible to examine why and how and touse this knowledge to design measures to reduce insecurity.The problem of squatting and evictions is similarlypredictable. Indeed, evidence from cities in all countriesdemonstrates similar behaviour patterns by squattersseeking to reduce the insecurity of their lives, as well as bypublic-sector authorities seeking to impose order over arapid and apparently chaotic urbanization process.This Global Report, therefore, examines these formsof ‘conventional wisdom’ in some detail to illustrate that thechallenges of reducing urban insecurity are not solely‘technical’, but rather have much to do with perceptions andpopular understanding, as well. In this regard, the reportexplores the mapping of risk, its predictability and the typesof vulnerability that may result. It discusses alternativepathways to resilience: how combinations of institutionalbehaviour, international legal frameworks such as humanrights law, and active recognition of the role of civil societyand local cultures can play important functions in anticipatingrisk and mitigating its negative consequences. Byproviding a strong description and analysis of these threatsto urban safety and security, along with specific recommendationsfor policy and institutions, the report is intended tocontribute to global public awareness of these importantissues.Part I of the report introduces the issues to bediscussed and it is divided into two chapters. Chapter 1frames the problem of urban safety and insecurity within theoverall context of human security, and highlights the mainproblems posed by crime and violence, tenure insecurity andevictions, as well as disasters triggered by natural andhuman-made hazards. Chapter 2 provides a conceptualanalytical framework for the report, which is based on therelated ideas of vulnerability and resilience. The ways inwhich vulnerability and resilience – at the international,national, local, community and household levels – influenceurban safety and security are also highlighted.NOTES1 Commission on Human Security,2003.2 See Harold Platt, 2005.3 World Bank, 2005.4 Ha Joon Chang, 2003.5 Dagens Nyheter, 2002.