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Urban crime and violence: Conditions and trends65countryside for the city and joins one of the street gangsengaged in common crime without political objectives.’ 110Youth homicidesClosely related to youth gangs is the issue of youthhomicides. According to WHO data, about 199,000 youthhomicides took place globally in 2000, implying an averageof 565 young people aged between 10 and 29 dying dailydue to various types of violence. 111 Regional variations showthat youth homicide rates were lowest in Western Europeand in the high-income countries of the Pacific. The highestrates are found in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa,as shown in Figure 3.18. This coincides with regions wherethere are large bulges in the youthful population. Countrieswith very low rates include Japan (with 0.4 per 100,000individuals); France (0.6 per 100,000); Germany (0.8 per100,000); and the UK (with 0.09 per 100,000). Thecountries having high rates of youth homicide includeColombia (with 84.4 per 100,000 individuals); El Salvador(50.2 per 100,000); Puerto Rico (41.8 per 100,000); andBrazil (with 32.5 per 100,000). Other countries with highrates are the US (11 per 100,000); Russia (18 per 100,000);and Albania (with 28.2 per 100,000). The high rate in theUS reflects, in part, gun policies and inequality, while that ofRussia can be linked to its economic transition.Urban terrorismUrban terrorism is one type of violence that has seriousconsequences for cities in both developed and developingcountries. Acts of terrorism fall within the ambit of ‘spectacularviolence’, which derives from the deliberate attempt tounsettle and disrupt urban populations, in contrast to ‘everydayviolence’. 112 In this report, terrorism is seen as violentacts that are deliberately targeted at civilians and urban infrastructure.The report does not examine the perpetrators ofacts of terror, their origins or their motives – all of which lieoutside the scope of this report. This approach is adopteddue to the contentious and complex nature of what constitutesterrorism, since terrorism itself could have differentmeanings depending on the perspective from which it isviewed. While this approach might have certain shortcomings,it clearly avoids the problematic issue of ‘when oneperson’s “terrorist” becomes another’s “freedom fighter”’,and escapes the essentialist categories associated with thediscourse on the current ‘war on terror’. 113The terrorist attacks on New York of 11 September2001 have brought to the fore in vivid terms the vulnerabilityof cities to terrorism. Cities make attractive targets forterrorist attacks due to several reasons. Cities are built-upagglomerations with high densities, and, as such, the impactof an explosion increases with density — thereby maximizingthe impact of an attack or destroying a large amountwithin a short time. This is often referred to as the ‘targeteffect’ 114 — implying that the large size and dense agglomerationof cities make them ideal targets for terrorist attacks.Furthermore, given the role of cities in terms of their administrative,economic, social, cultural and political functions, aswell as the fact that the influence of cities transcends theirnational boundaries, 115 attacks on cities provide a highdegree of visibility. Within cities themselves, infrastructureand services such as mass transit and communicationsystems, as well as commercial areas and shopping malls,restaurants, sports stadia, hotels, theatres and other placeswhere large numbers of people gather, form the key targetsof terrorist attacks because of the likelihood of greater devastation.For instance, the suburban train system in Mumbai,India which carries more than 6 million commuters daily,and one of the busiest in the world 116 has been the target ofa series of terrorist attacks over the last decade because ofthe enormous consequences of such attacks.Figure 3.18Estimated homiciderates among youthsaged 10 to 29 (2000)Source: Krug et al, 2002, p26Note: Rates were calculated byWHO region and countryincome level and then groupsaccording to magnitude.Urban terrorism isone type of violencethat has seriousconsequences forcities in bothdeveloped anddeveloping countriesWithin cities …infrastructure …such as mass transitand communicationsystems… and otherplaces where largenumbers of peoplegather, form the keytargets of terroristattacks because ofthe likelihood ofgreater devastation