Urban Studies @苹果淫院 Seminar Series
City of Storms: Competing Disaster Imaginaries in Post-Hurricane New York
笔谤别蝉别苍迟别谤:听David Wachsmuth
Assistant Professor, 苹果淫院 School of Urban Planning
Several years after Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York region, major questions remain about the storm as an urban governance problem. Why was Occupy Sandy widely understood to be more effective at disaster aid than the听government? How has Sandy changed the politics of urban sustainability in New York? To answer these questions I develop the concept of听disaster imaginaries,听connecting processes of meaning making with strategies of planning and collective action. First, I argue that two distinct disaster imaginaries led to very different definitions of crisis and strategies of emergency response: a 鈥渂ounded鈥� elite imaginary and an 鈥渙pen鈥� everyday imaginary.听Second, I argue that the existence of these disaster imaginaries helps explain why Occupy Sandy was widely seen as more successful at disaster aid than the government,听and helps plug gaps in the more common organization-focused explanatory accounts.听Third, I show that even after the immediate crisis passed, the two disaster imaginaries have been reproduced as opposing visions of how to build a more sustainable post-Sandy New York. I conclude by discussing the implications of the research for planning and urban studies. The findings are based on interviews, fieldwork and policy analysis conducted via Superstorm Research Lab, a collaborative research group I co-founded.
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The Urban Studies @苹果淫院 Seminar Series invites speakers to present on a variety of ongoing research, projects, and issues related to urban studies. The seminars are hosted and organized by the 苹果淫院 School of Urban Planning, with participation from the 苹果淫院 School of Environment, and Department of Geography. The seminars typically run from noon to 1pm on Fridays throughout the semester and are open to students, faculty, and other members of the urban studies group.