Atmospheres of (Counter)Terrorism in European Cities: UK Interviews Transcripts, 2021-2023

The project is an unprecedented, large-scale qualitative and quantitative international comparison of how counterterrorism and urban security interact with our everyday experience of cities in Europe. The project is based upon an international questionnaire survey focused on perceptions of terrorist threat in the ordinary experience of the urban space and the daily activities of the inhabitants of France, Germany, and the UK, and in-depth research in 5 European cities with contrasting histories of attacks, threat level, and planning/policy responses (Berlin, Birmingham, Nice, Paris, and Plymouth). It engages with urban residents and stakeholders involved in urban security/planning. The project adds empirical knowledge to ongoing scholarly debates in social and cultural geography and urban geopolitics. Moreover, the project will provide key insights for practitioners (urban planners, security agencies and the wider public). This allows to produce original and usable evidence on how counterterrorism impacts on the shared felt qualities (atmosphere) of urban spaces.

The Atmospheres of (counter)terrorism in European Cities interviews are part of the Open Research Area study’s qualitative data work package. The interviews are semi-structured, and concern the UK study sites – Birmingham and Plymouth – as well as officials at national level. 25 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with officials and professionals related to local, regional, and national counter-terrorism policy and planning, and security practice more generally, as well as with representatives of local communities. The interviews concern aims, strategies, and recent evolution of terror threats and counter-terrorism policies and practices; shifts in lived experiences in light of terrorist threats and counterterrorist measures, both in professionals’ day-to-day practice and in the public felt experience. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, with different levels of anonymity (fully anonymised, non-anonymised, pseudo-anonymised) based on Informed Consent Agreement