So can the secret Ring of Steel save the City from terrorism?

The following is all about an exhibition I recently visited following reading an article by Kieron Long in the Evening Standard. the exhibition was at Hanbury Hall near Brick Lane, E1. 'Allegedly' it was a photographic trip in time and Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM). It wasn't, but still interesting just the same.

The article in the Evening Standard by Kieron Long was about a phenomenon that had been relatively covert, until documentary photographer Henrietta Williams and cartographer and trainee architect George Gingell began their project ‘Entering the Panopticon’: a study of the Ring of Steel, earlier this year.

In essence Williams and Gingell attempt to take us on a journey of how their research revealed one of the most significant transformations of an urban planning anywhere in London, 17 years of alterations to the public realm that have fundamentally changed the way the city meets the rest of the city. Or in layman terms and as we security people know designing out the hostile vehicle attack through Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM).

The project now complete and their comprehensive mapping and photographic survey of every element of the ring of steel ready for show, I with a couple of colleagues attended.

The article stated that Williams and Gingell's work had documented a landscape of explicit security measures, such as new chicanes in roads manned by armed police, security cameras and bollards, as well as more subtle segments of the ring. The pictures reveal decorative water features and planters that are in fact built solidly enough to prevent car-bomb attacks. They also showed many places that were once streets but are now private property that staffed by security guards who move on homeless people, prevent photographers from taking pictures and stop kids skateboarding.

Unfortunately the exhibition did not translate well, and what Williams and Gingell were probably attempting to communicate was lost in its surroundings. There were a limited amount of pictures on display and some of them were not any type of HVM, the bollards in one of the pictures were that of a different London borough and were not HVM and this was disappointing.

I was unable to attend and walk the planned tour earlier in the day, but I doubt that any commentary would have helped me in understanding the point as the exhibition had already lost any credibility through obvious mistakes.

The Ring of Steel itself as quoted by Kieron Long is 6.5 miles of bollards, police boxes, CCTV cameras and other more subtle obstructions that has transformed the capital since it was conceived in 1993. It is the City of London's defence against car-borne terrorism, an unbroken security cordon that encircles London's financial heart.

What I would say is Williams and Gingell's had a fascinating idea and as a topic is ignored daily and although the exhibition is now over, I would suggest visiting the square mile and playing eye spy the HVM. I personally believe both the City of London and the Capital as a whole can offer the modern day counter terror security advisor some great examples of how best to mitigate this increasing threat around in the world. Maybe next time walking around the capital I'll get my camera out and take some pictures, introduce myself to some security staff and have a argument about the risk and the right to take pictures in public (that of course is a whole other argument nowadays and one not for me).