The Other Side of “Breaking Windows”

The New Yorker, Aug 24 — Place-based interventions are far more likely to succeed than people-based ones. What if vacant property received the attention that, for decades, has been showered on petty crime?

How the Government Saved Lives in Moore, Oklahoma

The New Yorker, May 28 — The United States invests far more in disaster recovery than in preparing for disasters by designing and creating more resilient buildings and infrastructure. As a consequence, we are trapped in a cycle of repeatedly rebuilding shoddy systems in predictably dangerous places.

Adaptation: Can Cities Be Climate-Proofed?

The New Yorker, Jan 25 — For the past decade and a half, governments around the world have been investing in elaborate plans to “climate-proof” their cities—protecting people, businesses, and critical infrastructure against weather-related calamities. Much of this work involves upgrading what engineers call “lifeline systems”: the network infrastructure for power, transit, and communications, which are crucial in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Some of the solutions are capital-intensive and high-tech; some are low- or no-tech approaches, such as organizing communities so that residents know which of their neighbors are vulnerable and how to assist them. Even if we managed to stop increasing global carbon emissions tomorrow, we would probably experience several centuries of additional warming, rising sea levels, and more frequent dangerous weather events. If our cities are to survive, we have no choice but to adapt.