Cities and Disasters

Cities and Disasters presents interdisciplinary and multinational perspectives on emergency management policy, economic development, and the various factors that affect the recovery process after natural disasters strike urban areas. The book has three central themes: policy, urbanity, and the interplay of events after disasters that affect the process of a community's return to normalcy. It covers differing approaches to emergency management policy at local, state, and federal levels, as well as economic development and redevelopment issues in urban areas. It also analyzes the issues of race and ethnicity involved in urban disaster response and recovery plans.
The book looks at recent catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in East Japan. The case studies highlight the diverse challenges that communities face with regard to emergency planning and response. Given global climate change, rising sea levels, and the increasing impacts of disasters upon people, particularly in densely populated urban areas, there is a clear and urgent necessity to rethink issues involved in preparation methods for disasters and their aftermath. The analyses in Cities and Disasters help guide policymakers and policy actors in making decisions that strengthen communities for the future.

Davia Cox Downey

MARGINALIZATION AND RECOVERY. Enhancing Community and Economic Development Postdisaster through the Increased Resilience of Women. Nonprofits and Disasters. Country Mouse, City Mouse: Exploring the Differences in Rural and Urban Economic Recovery Postdisaster. TRANSPORTATION CONSIDERATIONS. Improving the City Resistance in War: Planning the Major Transportation Terminals Based on Passive Defense Considerations. Return to a State of Nature, Compassionate Conservatism, Failed Response, and Its Impact on Race, Ethnicity, and the U.S. Economy: Hurricane Katrina Case Study. RESILIENCE, COOPERATION, AND CITIZEN ATTITUDES. The Big Spill: Who Was to Blame and How Should Government Respond? Citizen Attitudes in the Aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Spill in Coastal Alabama. How Government's Actions after a Disaster Affect Long-Term Civic Engagement: Shifting Opportunity and Motivation for Civic Participation in Christchurch, New Zealand. Managing for Resilience across Multiple Scales of Action in Joplin, Missouri. Vulnerabilities Magnified: A Closer Look at Disasters and Displacement. PLANNING AND PATH DEPENDENCE. The Historical Aspect of Social Vulnerability in the Lower Ninth Ward. Building Back Tremé: Using PPGIS to Evaluate Neighborhood Stability. Clustered and Community-Driven Housing Recovery: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina to the Great East Japan Earthquake.