An approach to the management of terrorist attacks in urban areas using dynamic simulation

Terrorist action has increased in recent years. The frequency of attacks means they must also be considered from the safety point of view and not only as a security problem. This is particularly important when these events happen in industrial sites near to urban areas or in the transport of hazardous materials. This paper focuses attention on the description of a methodology for the analysis of incidental scenarios caused by terrorist attacks in the transport of hazardous materials in urban areas and the identification of some aspects where improvements can be made. When an incident takes place, the consequences depend on the mode of attack and the characteristics of the infrastructure and on the vulnerability of the territory. Knowledge of the time evolution of these events is an essential element for correct emergency management. To achieve this dynamic scenarios have been constructed using the ArcGis software. The dynamics of these scenarios is essential for a rapid and realistic perception of the spatial and temporal evolution of these events in space and time