Safe cities for mega events

When more than 300,000 people come together almost every day in pre-defined locations, densely packed and clearly organized by country of origin, to celebrate in style, this is unfortunately not always just a huge party, but often also a uniquely tempting opportunity for extremists of all kinds to hit "soft targets". Terrorist organizations from all over the world expressly welcome such opportunities (see also "To the stadiums", Islamic State, April 2024), as they can plough vehicles through dense crowds in single or multiple waves of attacks in the tried-and-tested Nice and Breitscheidplatz manner without any significant effort or risk of detection. This would not only lead to high casualty figures, but would also provide the extremists with priceless media coverage.

However, it is not only city centers and public viewing areas that are highly attractive targets for extremists, but also the crowds of spectators in the immediate vicinity of football stadiums.

The threat of crossings

The reason for the disproportionate increase in the number of crossings in recent years (RAND, 2022) is as trivial as it is pragmatic: "Commercial vehicles are the most efficient weapon of terror" (Islamic State, 2016).

This is because the use of vehicles as terrorist weapons also has a clear advantage over all other lethal weapons of attack in Switzerland and makes use of a well-known guerrilla tactic (Gaynor, B. 2002): the so-called "prevention paradox" (Rose, G. 1985).

The maxim for this terrorist action is simply: "Asymmetric risk - resource - benefit ratio" to the advantage of the terrorists.

In short, the use of vehicles as weapons is cheap (resources), simple (resources) and effective (benefits). Transit terrorists require neither elaborate attack planning (risk of detection) nor high execution skills (resources) in order to seriously injure or even kill a large number of people in a media-effective manner (benefit).

On the other hand, truly effective protective measures are hindered by the prevention paradox in favor of the extremists. After all, demonstrably effective protective measures are not trivial to plan and implement. On the contrary: they require a high degree of scarce application expertise (resources), the use of well thought-out organizational means and powerful access protection barriers (costs). In addition, the official "benefit" of every protection effort must first be argued and enforced in the face of tight prevention budgets and widespread disaster dementia through extensive persuasion (costs, resources).

Positive developments in access protection

It is therefore all the more pleasing that the good news is that most of the cities, stadiums and public viewing events surveyed have developed very positively in recent years with regard to access protection! One reason for this could be the tireless educational work that began after the terrorist attacks in Nice, Berlin (2016) and Barcelona (2017) and which is now bearing fruit - even if there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Fortunately for the people in the protection zones, the previously very popular but life-threatening concrete blocks are finally being replaced more and more by ISO-tested access protection barriers. Unfortunately, however, even today, eight years after the attacks in Nice and at Breitscheidplatz, there is still no sign of a high level of application expertise and adequately effective barriers.

The main challenge is the professional planning and implementation of measures

Why, one wonders, is access protection still being falsely advertised in many places as a kind of event technology? Perhaps with the aim of depriving the mostly public sector clients of the effective regulations of the construction industry?

Why are there more and more unqualified "experts" on the market who, despite their ignorance of construction, physics, access protection and technology, want to make a quick buck with grandiose promises and impressive glossy brochures?

A highly dangerous situation is emerging here, which will affect clients with particular vehemence if the courts soon have to deal with complaints about defects or, in the worst case, even with fatalities.

Access protection is not rocket science, but it is not a trivial matter either. Internationally, it is already being exemplified that access protection is not a product range, but a specialist field within civil engineering (CPNI, 2013, UNOCT, 2022). In short: without relevant experience in engineering and specialist civil engineering, coupled with a solid grounding in international access protection and global networks, protection against globally active terrorist groups is absolutely impossible.

This may also have led to the fact that the use of so-called mobile access protection barriers attracted particularly negative attention this summer. The barriers were often used so unprofessionally that they would not have been able to provide any protection at all in the event of an attack. This is because access protection barriers must not only be properly certified, but above all must also be suitable for the intended application. It is therefore not only the builders of these barriers who should do more to fulfill their duty to test and inform, but also the mostly unqualified planners of these protective measures should take a very critical look at their own engineering background in terms of physics, technical mechanics and the state of the art.

Qualifications and experience are essential

Quality comes from qualification! What is taken for granted in other areas of daily life does not yet seem to have spread everywhere in access protection. (Or do you go to the factory outlet of the pharmaceutical industry instead of qualified doctors and pharmacists when you have urgent health issues?)

There is no way around it: Anyone who wants to plan and implement access protection measures responsibly must have proper technical training in the specialist field of access protection, have sound knowledge of civil engineering and technical mechanics, and keep up to date with the international state of the art.

The certified access protection specialist planners of the "Register of Security Engineers and Specialists" (RSES) are regarded as the relevant gold standard worldwide. In the interests of security, clients of access protection measures are strongly advised not to settle for anything less.

Good examples of professional security architecture can be found worldwide in projects in which neutral planners from the civil engineering sector worked together with certified specialist access protection planners to plan, tender and implement the desired access protection measures in accordance with standards and guidelines.

Best practice: Stuttgart's Neckar Stadium

The access protection measures of the state capital Stuttgart (Germany), which not only had the Stuttgart European Championship stadium protected to the highest level against crossing, but also achieved this very economically and in an extremely innovative way, deserve special mention.

With a certified resistance of 7,400kJ, the state-of-the-art access protection barriers at Stuttgart's Neckar Stadium offer more than four times the impact resistance of those found elsewhere (0 - 1,800kJ). The proven resistance of the barriers is so resilient that even 30-ton trucks could do little harm, even if they were to crash into the access protection barriers at a speed of 80 km/h without braking. The innovative project and planning team from Swabia achieved this high level of protection in a remarkably clever way, not only by using the latest generation of barriers, but also by doing so in harmony with sustainability, unobtrusive aesthetics, public transport, cyclist and pedestrian friendliness, while also taking into account the issues of CPTED and vandalism resistance.

Green high-performance barriers can be found at the Neckarstadion, as well as burglar-proof switch cabinets and cost-effective sliding beams. In addition, the interdisciplinary project team planned the protective perimeter around the stadium with such foresight that visitors to the Bundesliga matches will be optimally protected even after the European Championships and that other major events can also take place both in the stadium itself and on the stadium's extensive apron in exemplary protected zones.

Conclusion with confidence

EM2024 was not only a mega event in sporting terms, but also a stress test for many a protective architecture. Accordingly, there were regrettable weaknesses, but also very commendable strengths. With regard to the increasingly important protection of soft targets from crossing traffic, it became clear that access protection is a demanding, physical-technical discipline of civil engineering and is therefore best handled by experienced access protection specialist planners and civil engineers in accordance with proven construction processes. The example of the Neckar Stadium in Stuttgart and many other examples prove this. Regardless of whether temporary protection measures or permanent measures are involved, protection and quality are not created in colorful glossy brochures, but through the principles, regulations and processes inherent in the construction industry.

Equipped in this way and with interdisciplinary, neutral project teams, we can combine the urban challenges of the future and access protection so cleverly that far-reaching synergies are created that have hardly been thought of before.

Christian Schneider is a certified expert for access protection at the UNOCT (United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism), author of specialist books and guest lecturer for access protection at the Stuttgart Academy of Administration. He supervises access protection projects worldwide on behalf of ministries, municipalities, authorities and KRITIS operators. inibsp.de