NPR Senior Producer Franklyn Cater and former New York City chief urban designer Alexandros Washburn spoke Thursday afternoon in the SPEA atrium about location, design and mobility in terms of city planning for natural ?disasters.
Washburn spoke extensively about the New Meadowlands project in New Jersey and metropolitan New York.
The New Meadowlands project is a response to the flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy. The project aims to “rebuild ecosystems as landscapes for water storage and recreation,” according to an initiative of President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, ?Rebuild by Design.
The greatest challenge with the New Meadowlands project will be the execution in terms of policy, finances and design, Washburn said.
Washburn spoke on the difference between design, building and the steps it takes to bridge the two. In many cases, the execution relies on what Washburn refers to as the city’s DNA: city ?regulations.
“The most important thing to design is the policy and codes around it,” he said.
The talk also focused on location-based issues, such as droughts in California and Arizona.
“We can design our way out of a problem created by a location,” Cater said.
To close, Cater and Washburn spoke on the influence of transportation, especially in emergency situations.
Washburn used the example of gasoline delivery during Hurricane Sandy that erupted in riots at gas stations that did not have electricity or gas.
In response, Congress waived the Jones Act passed in 1920, which stated that goods transported between United States ports must be carried on U.S. ships operated by U.S. crews. This did not apply during the crisis when the East Coast needed fuel from states on the Gulf of Mexico.
The broadcast “Cities Projects” will be aired on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” These two broadcasts air on more than 900 NPR member stations, according to a University release.
The reports can also be heard locally on WFIU in Bloomington, according to an IU news release.
Every time a report is broadcast, a message from SPEA will play as follows: “Support for NPR comes from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington. SPEA is committed to preparing leaders and advancing knowledge for the greater good,” according to the release.
This message will reach nearly 26 million listeners each week, IU estimates.
“The NPR audience includes many in government and higher education, as well as leaders of corporations and nonprofits,” SPEA Executive Associate Dean David Reingold said in the release. “This is a way for SPEA to communicate our values and goals to a broader group of stakeholders.”
