The Hanshin Earthquake was the largest disaster to affect postwar Japan and one of the most destructive postwar natural disasters to strike a developed country. Although the media focused on the disaster’s immediate effects, the long-term reconstruction efforts have gone largely unexplored. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, David Edgington records the first ten years of reconstruction and recovery and asks whether planners successfully exploited opportunities to make a more sustainable and disaster-proof city. This book is an intricate investigation of one of the largest redevelopment projects in recent memory.
Preface
1 Introduction
2 Earthquakes and Urban Reconstruction
2.1 The Problem of Post-Disaster Reconstruction
2.2 Japanese Planning and Administrative Practice
3 Kobe and the Hanshin Earthquake
3.1 Kobe up to the Tim
