Threats from terrorist and criminal activity and risk of dangerous accidents - Resistance and vulnerability of the urban environment and ways of mitigation

In modern society, the appearance of many regional conflicts and the vastly improved communications, both by air transport and via the Internet, have meant that organized crime and international terrorism have been proliferating rapidly over the world. Similar events that occur daily in Iraq and the Middle East rapidly spread and occur in most European and other nations, be it at smaller scale. Also, the number of natural and man-induced disasters is increasing. Modern society's increasingly complex structure makes it more vulnerable than the local society prevailing up to mid-1900s. Although the great majority of human casualties are still caused by accidents and disasters, violence applied by organized crime and terrorism and ways to prevent, protect against, pursue perpetrators, and respond to such acts merit special attention. The paper describes some of the principle ways and means of attack in urban scenarios by terrorists and other criminals, their effects, and points to some ways to protect society and mitigate consequences.