Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster

Eugenie L. Birch is Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Susan M. Wachter is the Albert Sussman Professor of Real Estate and Professor of Finance, The Wharton School; Professor of City and Regional Planning, School of Design; and Co-Director, Penn Institute for Urban Research, at the University of Pennsylvania.

Foreword -Amy Gutmann Introduction -Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter I. MAKING PLACES LESS VULNERABLE 1. Physical Constraints on Reconstructing New Orleans -Robert Giegengack and Kenneth R. Foster 2. Negotiating a Fluid Terrain -Anuradha Mathur and Dilip da Cunha 3. The Problems of Containment and the Promise of Planning -Raymond J. Burby, Arthur C. Nelson, and Thomas W. Sanchez 4. Mapping for Sustainable Resilience -Frederick Steiner, Barbara Faga, James Sipes, and Robert Yaro 5. Natural Hazards Science-A Matter of Public Safety -P. Patrick Leahy II. RETURNING URBAN PLACES TO ECONOMIC VIABILITY 6. Measuring Katrina's Impact on the Gulf Megapolitan Area -Robert E. Lang 7. Restarting the Economy -Mark Zandi, Steven Cochrane, Fillip Ksiazkiewicz, and Ryan Sweet 8. Rebuilding Transportation -Rachel Weinberger 9. Learning from Past Disasters -Eugenie L. Birch 10. Restoring Urban Viability -Lawrence J. Vale 11. Housing Displaced Families -Jeffrey Lubell 12. Assessing The University's Role -Lester A. Lefton and Yvette Jones III. RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF THE DISPLACED: ISSUES OF CLASS, RACE, AND RECOVERY 13. Inadequate Reponses, Limited Expectations -Elijah Anderson 14. Educational Equity in Postdisaster New Orleans -Vivian L. Gadsden 15. The Lost and Forgotten -Richard J. Gelles 16. Temporary Housing Blues -Gary Hack 17. Lessons from Sri Lanka -Thomas L. Daniels and Harris Steinberg V. RECREATING A SENSE OF PLACE 18. Promoting Cultural Preservation -Randall Mason 19. Understanding New Orleans's Architectural Ecology -Dell Upton 20. Reconstructing New Orleans: A Progress Report -Jonathan Barnett and John Beckman 21. Rebuilding the "Land of Dreams" with Music -Nick Spitzer 22. Walking to Wal-Mart: Planning for Mississippi and Beyond -Sandy Sorlien and Leland R. Speed Afterword -Ronald J. Daniels

"Invaluable... Essential."--Choice "This book reveals fresh and insightful approaches to the challenges of facing natural disaster. Contributions from the fields of regionalism and environmental planning are positive and prospective, offering new ways to understand how the places we call home are interconnected with each other and with the land. I'm particularly struck by the thoughtful writings about the individuality of these places, where cultural expressions in music and architecture are irrepressible, even amidst debris and discouragement."--Marilyn Jordan Taylor, Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and Chairman, Urban Land Institute "After reading Rebuilding Urban Places one comes away with an understanding of how complex a process it is to restore our urban communities after experiencing such a catastrophe ... and an understanding of the leaps this country must take to help and protect our citizens."--John Timoney, Chief of Police, Miami "No elected official or planning professional should miss this book. Birch and Wachter have collected essays spanning every dimension of rebuilding. From historical lessons to cutting-edge practices, there is so much to learn."--Brent Warr, Mayor, City of Gulfport, Mississippi "A remarkable collection of essays."--Journal of the American Planning Association