The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster

Lawrence J. Vale, Thomas J. Campanella9780195175844, 0195175840

In 1871, the city of Chicago was almost entirely destroyed by what became known as The Great Fire. Thirty-five years later, San Francisco lay in smoldering ruins after the catastrophic earthquake of 1906. Or consider the case of the Jerusalem, the greatest site of physical destruction and renewal in history, which, over three millennia, has suffered wars, earthquakes, fires, twenty sieges, eighteen reconstructions, and at least eleven transitions from one religious faith to another. Yet this ancient city has regenerated itself time and again, and still endures. Throughout history, cities have been sacked, burned, torched, bombed, flooded, besieged, and leveled. And yet they almost always rise from the ashes to rebuild. Viewing a wide array of urban disasters in global historical perspective, The Resilient City traces the aftermath of such cataclysms as: – the British invasion of Washington in 1814 – the devastation wrought on Berlin, Warsaw, and Tokyo during World War II – the late-20th century earthquakes that shattered Mexico City and the Chinese city of Tangshan – Los Angeles after the 1992 riots – the Oklahoma City bombing – the destruction of the World Trade CenterRevealing how traumatized city-dwellers consistently develop narratives of resilience and how the pragmatic process of urban recovery is always fueled by highly symbolic actions, The Resilient City offers a deeply informative and unsentimental tribute to the dogged persistence of the city, and indeed of the human spirit.”

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Table of contents :
EEn……Page 1
The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster……Page 2
Copyright Info……Page 6
Preface……Page 7
TOC……Page 11
Contributors……Page 13
Introduction – The Cities Rise Again……Page 18
Assessing Recovery……Page 27
Memorializing Disaster……Page 28
Structure Of The Book……Page 29
Notes……Page 37
Part I – Naratives of Resilience……Page 40
1 – Making Progress – Disaster Narratives and the Art of Optimism in Modern America……Page 42
The Poetics Of Disaster……Page 48
Cradles And Graves: Chicago, 1871……Page 50
San Francisco, 1906……Page 57
A Distinctly American Embrace: New York, 2001……Page 60
Notes……Page 64
2 – “The Predicament of Aftermath” – Oklahoma City and September 11……Page 70
Notes……Page 88
3 – The City’s End – Past and Present Narratives of New York’s Destruction……Page 90
Realities: Natural Disasters And Creative Destruction In The Capital Of Capitalism……Page 91
Fantasies And Premonitions……Page 94
Explaining Fictional Disaster……Page 100
Narratives Of Resilience In Stone And Steel……Page 102
Notes……Page 106
Part II – The Symbolic Dimensions of Trauma and Recovery……Page 110
4 – Patriotism and the Reconstruction of Washington, D.C., after the British Invasion of 1814……Page 112
Notes……Page 128
5 – Double Restoration – Rebuilding Berlin after 1945……Page 132
Notes……Page 147
6 – Warsaw – Reconstruction as Propaganda……Page 150
Notes……Page 170
7 – A Delayed Healing – Understanding the Fragmented Resilience of Gernika……Page 174
Physical Resilience: Reconstruction Without Emotional Recovery……Page 179
Emotional Resilience: Remembrance, Memorialization, And Peacebuilding……Page 182
Cultural Resilience: Identity, Symbols, And Traditions……Page 186
Notes……Page 192
8 – Resurrecting Jerusalem……Page 196
The Jewish Temples……Page 202
The Church Of The Holy Sepulchre……Page 207
The Dome Of The Rock And Al Aqsa Mosque……Page 211
The Hurva Synagogue……Page 215
Notes……Page 220
Part III – The Politics of Reconstruction……Page 226
9 – Resilient Tokyo – Disaster and Transformation in the Japanese City……Page 228
Notes……Page 247
10 – “Resist the Earthquake and Rescue Ourselves” – The Reconstruction of Tangshan after the 1976 Earthquake……Page 250
Notes……Page 266
11 – Reverberations – Mexico City’s 1985 Earthquake and the Transformation of the Capital……Page 270
Notes……Page 291
12 – A Vital Void – Reconstructions of Downtown Beirut……Page 296
Notes……Page 311
13 – After the Unrest – Ten Years of Rebuilding Los ANgeles following the Trauma of 1992……Page 314
Notes……Page 326
14 – Cyborg Agonistes – Disaster and Reconstruction in the Digital Electronic Era……Page 328
Notes……Page 346
Conclusion – Axioms of Resilience……Page 350
1. Narratives Of Resilience Are A Political Necessity……Page 354
2. Disasters Reveal The Resilience Of Governments……Page 355
3. Narratives Of Resilience Are Always Contested……Page 356
5. Resilience Is Underwritten By Outsiders……Page 357
7. Remembrance Drives Resilience……Page 359
8. Resilience Bene.ts From The Inertia Of Prior Investment……Page 360
9. Resilience Exploits The Power Of Place……Page 362
10. Resilience Casts Opportunism As Opportunity……Page 363
11. Resilience, Like Disaster, Is Site-speci.c……Page 365
12. Resilience Entails More Than Rebuilding……Page 366
Notes……Page 369
Appendix – Suggestions for Further Reading on Urban Disasters and Recovery……Page 372
Notes……Page 375
Index……Page 378