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Modern cities have to be prepared to respond to a wide variety of emergencies, ranging from natural disasters and epidemics to terrorist attacks and riots.
17.1 - The road to sustainability: great coordination and collaboration is needed among national, regional, and local authorities.
17.2 - Cities are taking a transformed approach to safety and security, extending to all types of risks, hazards, and threats.
17.3 - New initiatives require innovative citizen-centric models to create livable cities and communities.
17.4 - With the support of technology, sustainable public safety and security in the city can be achieved.
17.5 - Ghent is Belgium’s second largest municipality by number of inhabitants. Much of the city’s medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well-preserved and restored; it also contains the largest car-free area in the country.
Safe CITIES
Coordination of urban city management mechanisms that ensure public safety and security requires a range of innovative measures and solutions. The forerunners show how it is done.
BY MICHAEL DE LA CRUZ
to cope. As cities adapt to new global con- ditions and local circumstances, safety and security play a more important role in sus- tainable city management. Safety and secu- rity initiatives no longer focus only on crime. They extend to all types of risks, hazards, and threats. Such initiatives demand greater coordination and collaboration among na- tional, regional, and local authorities and among businesses, groups, and individuals that these agencies serve. They also require new, citizen-centric models for service de- livery and a comprehensive urban sustain- ability concept to create and safeguard liv- able cities and communities. Many cities have transformed their ap-
O
proach to safety and security. They have in- vested in prevention, while improving their capabilities to react to challenges. They have increased collaboration among public and private sector organizations as well as with citizens. They have invested in technology to handle greater complexity and to support decision-making. As shown in the follow- ing examples, sustainable public safety and security has many facets, all attainable with the support of technology.
ur cit ies face growing chal- lenges in sustainability, requir- ing transformation of economic, social, and ecological policies
17.5
GHENT LAUNCHES CoMMuNiCaTioNs huB To QUICKLY ALERT CITIZENS IN EMERGENCIES
X X to improve government accountability and services for its citizens. The municipal gov- ernment wanted to create a communications center with telephone, email, and fax capabil- ity; track and plan citizen contact volume and workflow; and generate detailed reports for elected officials and the public. City leaders chose a customer relationship management solution (CRM) to launch the communications center. Now, not only is there improvement in responding to most citizens’ questions and the ability to track workf low so complaints and questions are directed to the right place the first time, but in emergency situations, the public can be quickly notified.
Ghent, Belgium’s third largest city, decided Local Action Moves the World •
www.icleiusa.org
PLANET EARTH \\ SAFE CITIES
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