Structure of the knowledge base

Structure of the knowledge base

The securipedia is a knowledge base which is structured around a number of concepts which are essential to urban planners in order to include security consideration in their urban planning process.

Description

The information imcluded in the Securipedia concerns both pages that are directly in support to the urban planning process and pages that are included to support the use of the tools. Each of these types and their contents will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

Pages in direct support of the urban planning process

The central concepts that are included in this knowledgebase that are in direct support of the urban planning process, concern the following categories:

• Pages on specific security issues;
• Pages on specific types of measure;
• Pages on specific urban objects (object types);
• Pages on specific issues in other expert fields that are related to security;

The structure in which these pages are included, is graphically depicted in the figure below.

The urban object

Central in the knowledge base is the object that the urban planner is developing. This object can be a single building or a more overarching critical infrastructure, but might also entail the renovation of a complete quarter of a city.

The urban environment

The urban object will be situated in, and indeed part of, an urban environment. The urban environment is an important aspect of the planning process of the urban object.

Functions

This object has to provide in certain functions, such as mobility functions for a new bridge, economic functions for a mall, social functions for a stadium or safety functions such as protection for the elements or privacy for almost all types of buildings. These functions can both be distinguished for the object itself, and for its surroundings. These functions also interact: the mobility function of a bridge can for instance contribute to the economic function of the city. As these interactions are important to keep in mind when looking at the security aspects of urban planning, these functions are categorized and described in this knowledge base.

Threats

The urban object is designed to fulfil these functions according to the requirements. However, the fulfilling of these requirements can be frustrated by the actions of persons who seek to do harm (threats). This is why the knowledge base will also provide information about the various types of threats, their motivation (motives) and the means they have to their disposal to succeed in their intentions.

Mitigative measures

The only means at the disposal of the urban planner to mitigate the threats, is to take mitigative measures (for mitigation see also crisis management cycle). These are provisions taken to lessen the chance of success or impact of an attack. The knowledge base will contain information about measures in order to know which measures might be effective against what threat.

Legal and ethical restrictions

The urban planner does not have unlimited liberty in the measures he is allowed to take. These are subject to legal and ethical restrictions that enforce additional requirements to the measures that are feasible. This is why in this knowledge base, also information about the legal an ethical requirements is included.

Interconnectedness

The knowledge base intents to show the interconnectedness between all these concepts in a practical, applicable way that directly supports the integration of this knowledge in the urban planning decision process right from the start.

Pages in support of the use of the tools

Types of pages that included in the Securipedia that are included to provide support for th euse of the tools, concern the following categories:

• Support pages for SecuRbAn questions;
• General pages and support pages introducing the use of the Securipedia tool component; and,
• Pages providing background (support in the interpretation of expert terms and constructs) on each field of expertise.

The direct relation of the information on these pages with the urban planning process can therefore be obscure. To communicate to the reader the nature of the page, we marked these pages with an icon in the top right (as can be seen on the top right of this very page). The icons we use are:

Icon	Page type
	Support page for the SecuRbAn tool
	Support page for the Securipedia
	Page providing background on specific field of expertise