Robert Olshansky
Robert B. Olshansky is a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has taught for 19 years. He has master’s and doctorate degrees in city and environmental planning from the University of California at Berkeley. His teaching and research cover land use and environmental planning, with an emphasis on planning for natural hazards. He has published extensively on post-disaster recovery planning, planning and policy for earthquake risks, and environmental impact assessment. His publications include two monographs on seismic safety for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a monograph on hillside planning for the American Planning Association, and a forthcoming monograph on recovery following the 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes.
Olshansky has studied recovery after several major earthquakes—most notably the Kobe, Japan, earthquake of 1995—and spent the 2004-2005 academic year studying the topic as a visiting professor at Kyoto University, Disaster Prevention Research Institute. His current work focuses primarily on developing theory and researching the processes of recovery following catastrophic disasters. Since September 2005—with funding from the National Science Foundation, Public Entity Risk Institute, and Lincoln Institute—he has been researching and advising the post-Katrina planning process in New Orleans and is co-authoring a forthcoming book on this topic to be published by APA Press. He and his students have also been researching disaster recovery in Tamil Nadu, India; Banda Aceh, Indonesia; and Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
Related Resources by Robert Olshansky from the Natural Hazards Library Staff
Planning After Hurricane Katrina
Journal of the American Planning Association, 2006
Unleashing the Power of Planning to Create Disaster-Resistant Communities
Journal of the American Planning Association, 1999