Unsafe Cities and Other Forms of Urbicide

Keywords: urban insecurity, city, metropolis, urbicide, security

Abstract

This text offers an interpretation of the city through the lens of situations of insecurity experienced in urban spaces. With population growth and increasing global interconnection, insecurity appears to be both an obvious and latent problem in most cities around the world. The article therefore asks if there is a causal relationship between insecurity and urbicide. This question is analyzed using a consistent paradigmatic and comparative method, which attempts to find similarities between acts that generate insecurity and the dynamics of urban life. On this basis, it can be argued that the emergence of unsafe environments emerges as an urbicide factor that undermines the possibility of living in many cities, given their already unequal development. To this end, we address some cases of insecurity and its various urban manifestations.

Author Biography

Giovanni Perea Tinajero, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Full‑Time Researcher at the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He holds a PhD in Contemporary Philosophy from the Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP). His research focuses on the philosophy of the city in Latin America, the philosophy of violence, and peace studies, combining critical reflections on territory, conflict, and urban justice. His major publications include Urbicide: War and the Right to the City; Violating Old Age: Inhabiting Real Estate Crises at the End of Life; The Urban Constitution of Spaces of Violence; and Urbicide: Philosophy of the Wounded City. Together, these works contribute to a critical reflection on contemporary forms of urban violence from a philosophical perspective.

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Published
2026-06-30
How to Cite
[1]
Perea Tinajero, G. 2026. Unsafe Cities and Other Forms of Urbicide. Perspectives on Culture. 53, 2 (Jun. 2026), 105-120. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2026.5302.07.
Section
Movement(s) and Identity