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.

1. Enhancing Community and Economic Development Postdisaster through the Increased Resilience of Women [Bridgette Cram and Jean-Claude Garcia-Zamor] 2. Nonprofits and Disasters [Grace L. Chikoto] 3. Country Mouse, City Mouse: Exploring the Differences in Rural and Urban Economic Recovery Postdisaster [Davia Cox Downey] 4. Improving City Resistance in War: Planning Major Transportation Terminals Based on Passive Defense Considerations [Amir Shakibamanesh and Mahshid Ghorbanian] 5. Return to a State of Nature, Compassionate Conservatism, Failed Response, and Their Impact on Race, Ethnicity, and the U.S. Economy: Hurricane Katrina Case Study [Antoinette S. Christophe and Michael O. Adams]