The MetroFuture Speaker Series presents: Dr. Aseem Inam      

Location: MAPC, 60 Temple Place, Boston

How do cities plan for the unplanned?  Do we prepare plan for recovery from sudden shocks?  Should we prepare hurricane reovery plans, flood recovery plans, earthquake recovery plans, industrial disaster recovery plans, riot recovery plans?  And how do cities in extremely difficult circumstances--resource poor and vulnerable to crises--cope with such uncertainty and change?  Dr. Inam's book, Planning for the Unplanned, is a comparative analysis of supposedly bureaucratic and lethargic planning agencies in Los Angeles and Mexico City, and the surprisingly effective ways in which they implemented successful disaster recovery programs.  Dr. Inam will conclude his talk with general observations on the types of practices and policies that can emerge out of well-crafted comparative analyses, and discuss possible lessons for the Boston metropolitan region.