Abstract

Since the 1970s Western governments have sought to defend selective urban areas from terrorist attack through a plethora of measures aimed at territorially controlling space both physically and technologically where the disruption to the orderly flow of commerce, or other activities, is minimized. Drawing on recent historical accounts, this paper seeks to track the changes to the landscape of Britain’s financial heart, the City of London, from the 1990s to the current day, as its leaders and security agents have sought to defend the area from terrorist attack through the construction of what is commonly referred to as the “ring of steel.”