2005 AICP Symposium

Housing in the Wake of Katrina

December 2, 2005

The National Building Museum joined the American Planning Association and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) to present a morning symposium exploring the short- and long-term housing issues that governments, planners, and residents of the hurricane-devastated region face.

What are the post-disaster planning issues, and what steps should be taken to better prepare for future disasters? This symposium features experts fresh from inspection of the ravaged areas as well as experience in disasters overseas.

The symposium earned 2.5 CPDs for AICP members.

Speakers included:

Fernando Costa, AICP, Planning Director at Fort Worth, Texas, is leading a special volunteer six-member team of planners assembled by APA in New Orleans to assess the city's needs for developing and implementing plans to guide redevelopment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Franck Daphnis, President and CEO of Development Innovations Group, Silver Spring, Maryland, expert on international housing and post-disaster planning. He has worked in more than 30 countries, including countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, and devising reconstruction strategies in Pakistan after the recent earthquake.

Laura Steinberg, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans is currently a visiting scientist at The George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management. Her research interests include disaster management, risk assessment, critical infrastructure and environmental modeling.

Sue Schwartz, FAICP, President of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and Neighborhood Planning Division Manger, Housing & Community Development in Greensboro, North Carolina, will serve as moderator.

Another Program in this Series

The December 2, 2005, AICP Symposium was the second event in the National Building Museum's "Building in the Aftermath" series, which is co-sponsored by APA. APA Executive Director Paul Farmer, AICP, was on the panel for the series kickoff program on November 14: "Rebuilding the 'Big Easy' — Not So Easy."

A distinguished panel of leaders in urban planning, landscape architecture, historic preservation, engineering, and architecture each shared advice about the best strategies for rebuilding the New Orleans before engaging in a free-wheeling, moderated discussion. Robert Ivy, editor-in-chief of Architectural Record, moderated.

In addition to Paul Farmer, panelists included: Suzanne Turner, emerita professor of landscape architecture, Louisiana State University; Richard Moe, president, National Trust for Historic Preservation; Thomas Campanella, assistant professor of urban planning at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and co-editor of The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster; Angela O'Bryne, president, American Institute of Architects, New Orleans; and Henry Hatch, civil engineer formerly with the Army Corps of Engineers (invited)

For information about National Building Museum programs, visit www.nbm.org.