A Censis Survey for the World Social Summit on "Fears in the cities" has just been completed. It was an international survey of peoples' fears and their reactions on an individual and global scale, in ten cities: Rome, London, Paris, New York, Mumbai, Beijing, San Paolo, Tokyo, Moscow and Cairo.

The survey was carried out by telephone interview using a multiple-choice questionnaire, on a representative sample of 5.000 persons between the ages of 18 and 75, with the purpose of finding out:

- the principal fears that afflict people living in different geographical areas of the world. Special attention was given to fears related to threats to our selves and our possessions (reduction in living standards, health, etc), those of a more general nature, which are related to the stability and reliability of the social order (terrorism, epidemics, etc) and those which erode our personal identity and position in the world, leaving us open to the risk of humiliation and social exclusion;

- the real risks that threaten people and the link between risk and fear;

- the mechanisms of reactions to individual and social fear, with particular attention to preventive behaviours adopted by individuals in the case of risks;

-the demand for security expressed by the world population (more controls, protection of human rights, social security, etc.).

The central theme, security in the city, was explored in detail providing a map of metropolitan risks ("the places" where you feel most insecure, "the people who scare you the most") of defence and protection systems which citizens have adopted, and above all the demands for security made by citizens to the city government.

The study analyses the effects of globalisation in the metropolis, trying to understand if there are differences between the different cities and what they are, whether they increase fears or diminish them, thus generating new opportunities, growth and movement for the population.

A separate section was dedicated to science and the effect that scientific and technological progress has on the lives of individuals, and the possibility that this will give rise to new threats for human and environmental health.

An attempt was made to explain that important minority of people who, despite living in increasingly fear-"contaminated" environments, with ever increasing risks and dangers, manage their anxieties and fears in a positive way, accepting the risks which are unavoidably connected to any life strategy aimed at improving one's own condition.

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