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CCDP

Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence (URCV)

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Oliver JÜTERSONKE
Research Associate, CCDP

Project Description

The world's population is growing at an explosive rate. Much of this growth is taking place in urban settings, especially lower- and medium-income cities. By some estimates, cities and their peripheries in at least 50 so-called fragile countries are systematically affected by situations of chronic violence.

And yet individual cities respond in different ways to urban violence. Put another way, there are varying patterns and degrees of "resilience." The Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence (URCV) project considered precisely how formal and informal institutions and actors in cities cope with violence. It asked how basic services are provided, adapt, or disappear in contexts of chronic collective and inter-personal violence.

Principle URCV partners include the CCDP, MIT (IDG), and the University of Utrecht (CTR). With a wide network of collaborators, the project aimed to provide a greater knowledge base on the dynamics of urban resilience in situations of violence and insecurity with a view of assisting policy makers, urban planners and practitioners think about how best to assist.

Project Output

With support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), URCV researchers have produced a series of publications that include:

  • A report that summarizes the research findings and recommendations, 

  • A toolkit that focuses on the practical implications of our findings, in-depth case studies of seven cities facing diverse violence challenges, a working paper, and policy briefs (forthcoming).

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URCV: Case of Kigali, Rawanda
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URCV: Case of Nairobi, Kenya

Events organized in the framework of the project 

  • Lectures on Urbanization and Urban Violence at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy by Oliver Jütersonke and Robert Muggah in April and June 2011

  • Lecture on Urban Violence at Médecins Sans Frontières in May 2011 by Robert Muggah. 

  • Robert Muggah chaired a panel at the World Conference on Humanitarian Studies at Tufts University in June 2011; "Humanitarian Action in Situations of Urban Violence". Click here for more information.

Selected Publications by URCV Partners

  • Muggah, Robert, Jütersonke, Oliver, Murray, Ryan, Rees, Edward and Scambary, James (2010) "Urban Violence in an Urban Village: A Case Study of Dili, Timor-Leste", Working Paper, Geneva: Geneva Declaration Secretariat

  • Jütersonke, Oliver, Muggah, Robert and Dennis Rodgers (2009) "Gangs, Urban Violence and Security Interventions in Central America", Security Dialogue, Vol 40:4-5, pp.1-25.

  • Muggah, Robert (2008) "Risks and Resilience: A New Armed Violence Agenda", Editorial for Medicine, Conflict and Survival. London: Routledge.

  • Muggah, Robert and Oliver Jütersonke (2008) "Endemic Urban Violence and Public Security", Cities and Urban Violence. Ottawa: DFAIT.

  • McDougal, Topher (2008) "The Geography of Armed Conflict: A Literature Review for the Urban Resilience Project", Unpublished paper.

  • Pritchard, Meghan (2008) "Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence: Annotated Bibliography of Universities and Private Centres", Unpublished paper.

  • Jütersonke, Oliver, Keith Krause, and Robert Muggah. 2007. Guns in the City: Urban Landscapes of Armed Violence. Small Arms Survey 2007. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Media

  • Muggah, R. (4 January 2011) “A guerra no Rio: estratégias para estabilidade e desenvolvimento”

  • Szabo, R. (29 December 2010) “O que o Rio pode aprender com as zonas de guerra no mundo”

  • Parente, R. (17 December 2010) “Educação para a prevenção da violência” 

  • Lessing, B. (16 December 2010) “Estado deve tomar cuidado com a tropa de elite”

Principal Collaborator 

Principal Collaborator
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Oliver JÜTERSONKE
Research Associate, CCDP
Principal Collaborator