Executive Summary

During the spring semester of 2003, an international urban planning studio at Columbia University was coordinated to focus on urban planning efforts toward achieving a disaster-resilient and healthful urban community in Accra, Ghana.

The studio was a partnership between the Urban Planning Program of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and the Center for Hazards and Risk Research at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Columbia Earth Institute, and was a component of Columbia University’s Earth Institute 21st Century Cities program. Additional collaborations were established with the University of Ghana and its Centre for Social Policy Studies.

The studio was comprised of eleven urban planning graduate students, two of which are pursuing joint degrees in public health, another who is pursuing a joint degree in urban affairs, along with one civil engineering graduate student, with assistance from students and faculty from the University of Ghana. This interdisciplinary team was led by Professor Sigurd Grava and Professor Klaus Jacobs from Columbia University with guidance from teaching assistant Lisa Fisher and Professor William Ahadzie from the University of Ghana.

The studio focused on achieving a disaster-resilient and healthful urban community in Accra. The goals of the studio were to educate and train Columbia’s urban planning students through participation in a real-world project, and assist the planning and management efforts in Accra. The studio was also a component of Columbia University’s Earth Institute 21st Century Cities program. We are very grateful for the assistance provided in both Ghana and New York.

 

                                              PARTICIPANTS
Professor Sigurd Grava                                      Professor Klaus Jacob
Teaching Assistant Lisa Fisher                           Juliette Dellecker
Jennifer Dickson                                                 Cynthia Golembeski
Gregoire Landel                                                  Moriah McSharry McGrath
Angela Pace-Moody                                            Barbara Prevatt
Molly Price                                                           David Recht
Maya Sarkar                                                        Julie Touber