Global Cityscope: Disaster Planning and Post-Disaster Rebuilding and Recovery
An MIT OpenCourseWare course on how cities and nations prepare for, respond to, and rebuild after disasters. Lessons trace the recurring cycle of disaster events and examine the historical roots of emergency planning in the United States, then broaden the lens to compare approaches in developing countries facing different resource constraints and governance structures. Students learn to map vulnerabilities in urban systems, from infrastructure to housing to social networks, and to evaluate recovery strategies used after real disasters. Materials include readings, case studies, and assignments drawn from MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, available under a Creative Commons license with no cost to access. The course suits anyone interested in urban resilience, emergency management, or the policy choices that shape which communities recover quickly and which do not.