Fear of difference: ‘Space of risk’ and anxiety in violent settings

Abstract

Yosef Jabareen ties fear to planning in his empirical research conducted in Israel/Palestine, offering scholarly research in planning an important concept that is termed a ‘space of risk’. Yet, Jabareen’s research fails to outline the key theoretical aspects of fear which underpin his concept. The importance of fear to planning practice lies in helping planning scholars, and in particular those conducting research in cases of violent conflict, to understand the complexity that underpins spaces of anxiety, risk and threat. Analysis in this article therefore attempts to further conceptualise fear in planning theory, building upon and complementing Jabareen’s conceptualisation of a ‘space of risk’. A fresh area for scholarly research in planning theory emerges that addresses the politics of fear and the impact that fear has on the production of spaces in violent settings.