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Trauma and Rebuilding in the Digital Electronic Era

William J. Mitchell Anthony M. Townsend PhD '03: May 13, 2002; Running Time: 01:28:56

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

When cities have suffered major destruction in the past, through fire, earthquake, bombing, and so on, the physical rebuilding task has involved (1) recreating network infrastructure -- transportation networks, water supply, etc., and (2) replacing residential, commercial, industrial, and other floor space supported by that infrastructure. The task of reconstructing Lower Manhattan after the September 11 attacks obviously has these aspects, but there are some additional ones as well. First, the reconstruction of digital telecommunications networks is now a critically important infrastructure issue -- particularly given the nature of the enterprises that were displaced. This reconstruction began to unfold almost instantly, since such networks -- particularly the Internet -- are increasingly designed to be self-repairing, and to route automatically around damage. Secondly, at least some of the dispersal of enterprises that followed September 11 may turn out to be irreversible; to reduce future vulnerability, displaced enterprises may choose greater dispersal and facility redundancy, supported by sophisticated electronic telecommunications, rather than return to place all their eggs in one basket.

Mitchell and Townsend explore the new conditions and strategies of urban rebuilding in the digital electronic era, examine what has actually happened in Manhattan so far, and make some suggestions about achieving high levels of urban resilience in the future.

Lecture Details

Location: Room 10-485

About the Speakers

William J. Mitchell

Alexander W. Dreyfoos Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences
Director, Smart Cities research group, MIT Media Lab

William J. Mitchell is the former Dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Prior to coming to MIT, he was the G. Ware and Edythe M. Travelstead Professor of Architecture and Director of the Master in Design Studies Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His latest book is Imagining MIT, (MIT Press, 2007). His previous books include: e-topia: Urban Life, Jim—But Not As We Know It, (MIT Press, 1999) High Technology and Low-Income Communities, with Donald A. Schön and Bish Sanyal (MIT Press, 1998) City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn, (MIT Press, 1995) The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era, (MIT Press, 1992) The Logic of Architecture: Design, Computation, and Cognition, (MIT Press, 1990).

Mitchell holds a B.Arch. from the University of Melbourne, an M.Ed. from Yale University, and an M.A. from Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mitchell is currently chair of The National Academies Committee on Information Technology and Creativity.

Anthony M. Townsend PhD '03

Lecturer in Public Administration at New York University

Anthony M. Townsend is a PhD candidate in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and Lecturer in Public Administration at New York University. He has published numerous research articles and chapters on the impacts of new communications technologies on urban and regional development. He serves as a technology consultant to major information technology companies including Nortel Networks, Quova, and Telegeography, Inc. and is currently conducting cyberdistrict feasibility studies in Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey. Most recently, he co-founded NYCwireless, a volunteer organization that provides free wireless Internet access in public parks in New York City.

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