Beschreibung
Catastrophes resulting from natural causes like earthquakes, fires, and floods have destroyed significant parts of many cities in Europe and North America. Contributions to this volume explore how cities experienced these disasters, how cities coped with the emergency, and how they tried to make sense of what had happened. To illuminate common themes, the book includes examples from Poland, France, Italy, Germany, Finland, Greece, Great Britain, and its Caribbean colonies. Some cities never recovered while others managed to turn their physical destruction into an opportunity for spatial, economic, and political reform. Catastrophes have played an important role in urban history because they represent major turning points that shatter conventional aspirations and open new avenues of development. Essays are presented with abstracts in English, French and German.
Autorenportrait
The Editors: Geneviève Massard-Guilbaud is Maître de conférence at Blaise-Pascal University (Clermont-Ferrand, France). Her current research deals with modern urban and environmental history. She is preparing a book on industrial pollution in French 19th century towns.
Harold L. Platt is Professor of History at Loyola University of Chicago. His research is on environmental history of British and American cities. He is finishing a book on the formation of industrial ecologies in Chicago and Manchester.
Dieter Schott is Professor for the History of Urban Planning at the University of Leicester, UK. He currently works on urban environmental history in Germany and Britain.
