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Earth's fractured geology is visible in its fault lines. It is along these lines that earthquakes occur, sometimes with disastrous effects. These disturbances can significantly influence urban development, as seen in the aftermath of two earthquakes in Messina, Italy, in 1908 and in the Belice Valley, Sicily, in 1968. Following the history of these places before and after their destruction, this book explores plans and developments that preceded the disasters and the urbanism that emerged from the ruins. These stories explore fault lines between "rural" and "urban," "backwardness" and "development," and "before" and "after," shedding light on the role of environmental forces in the history of human habitats.
List of contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Sites of disaster map
Introduction: Can Earthquakes Speak?
The Voice of the Earthquake
A Tale of Two Earthquakes
The Structure of This Book
Part I: The 1908 Messina Earthquake Chapter 1. The 1908 Messina Earthquake
Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fire
Earthquake Science
Earthquake-Proof Urbanism
Chapter 2. Urban Reform 1880-1908
Sanitizing the City
A New Geography of Urban Water
Engineering the City's Environment
To Live Happily and Forget the Quake
Chapter 3. The Modern City 1909-1943
The Provisional City (and Its Permanent Consequences)
The Master Plan
The City Developers versus the Hut Dwellers
The New City and Its Darker Sides
Part II: The 1968 Belice Valley Earthquake Chapter 4. The 1968 Belice Valley Earthquake
"Like an Atomic Wasteland"
The Disaster of Poverty
Road Maps to Development
Chapter 5. Rural Modernity 1933-1967
Reclamation and Redemption
Development Plans
Grassroots Counter-Measures
The Many Virtues of Water
Chapter 6. Urbanized Countryside 1968-1993
Tents, Barracks, and Committees
The City Territory
New Towns and Ghost Factories
Rural Urbanism
Conclusion: Fault Lines
Tales of Earthquake Urbanism
Fault Lines in a Seismic Country
Hazards, Urbanization, and Nature
Bibliography
About the author
Giacomo Parrinello is a Marie Curie Fellow in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University and the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna. He has published in the fields of environmental history, history of urban planning, and modern Italian history.
