Disaster Resistant Caracas

Columbia University in the City of New York has instituted a research and technical assistance program to address natural hazard conditions around the world. It draws upon its physical and social science resources to provide analytic and planning help where appropriate.

In the Spring semester of the 2000-2001 Academic Year, an Urban Planning studio was organized that had the task of preparing a natural disaster mitigation plan for Greater Caracas, Venezuela. The studio was a joint effort by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Urban Planning Program of the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (GSAPP).

Close coordination was maintained with the Urban Design Program of the GSAPP, which has a long association with development issues in Caracas and with the Regional Institute for Urban Studies (IREU) and its director, Carlos Gómez de Llarena.

The Studio effort had a pedagogic purpose for Columbia's students, but its main thrust was to examine and define a work process that can lead to a disaster-resistant and resilient urban environment in areas vulnerable to destructive natural events. The work was done by twelve graduate students, under the supervision of two faculty members, in urban planning and earth sciences.