Rebuilding a city: the dos and don’ts in post-disaster urban recovery

Population growth, urbanization and climate change expose increasing numbers of people to natural hazards in urban areas. From New Orleans in 2005 to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 2010, recent urban disasters in developing and developed countries have drawn attention to challenges in post-disaster reconstruction of urban areas.

On October 6, the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement and Habitat for Humanity International will host a discussion on the challenges of urban disaster recovery, focusing on shelter and housing, urban planning, long-term reconstruction, and disaster risk reduction as components in disaster- and climate-proofing our cities. Panelists include Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer of Habitat from Humanity International; Brookings Senior Fellow Amy Liu, co-director of the Metropolitan Policy Program, Abhas Jha, lead urban specialist and regional coordinator for disaster risk management at the World Bank, and Charles Setchell, senior shelter, settlements, and hazard mitigation advisor at USAID. Senior Fellow Elizabeth Ferris, co-director of the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, will provide introductory remarks and moderate the discussion.

After the program, panelists will take audience questions.