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These observations are based on over three decades of experience—both research and practice—after large disasters in the U.S. and numerous other countries. Olshansky and Johnson’s book After Great Disasters, is available for free download from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

The Palisades and Eaton Fires have decimated two large communities within the urban fabric of Greater Los Angeles, destroying, at last count,15,467 structures in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, and damaging 1,852. Both communities are active parts of the economic, cultural, and social life of the region, and they will rebuild, although it will take some time.

Planners will play important roles in the upcoming reconstruction. Planners work for public agencies, including cities, the county, regional agencies, the state, federal government agencies, and utilities. They represent the needs of NGOs, and work for research and advocacy organizations. The numerous university planning programs in the area will contribute, and many planners will seek volunteer opportunities.

We are writing this in the hope that planners in all these organizations will seek leading roles in catalyzing the work of the ecosystem of recovery actors, to maximize the opportunity for “building back better” while meeting the needs of all communities in a timely manner.

Based on disaster reconstruction experiences elsewhere, some of the most important things that planners can do to support effective, equitable, and informed reconstruction are:

  • Create networks and help support and organize the energy that is going to spring up from the neighborhoods;
  • Organize, facilitate, support, and promote the work of NGOs;
  • Support investments in information and communication hubs;
  • Support neighborhood-based planning and organizing for recovery and reconstruction;
  • Promote equitable policies and practices, and provide for the needs of those with fewer resources.

Reconstruction: Urban Development in Compressed Time

Reconstruction after disasters has all the features, and all the complexities, of urban planning and development in normal times, but with one key difference: the compression of planning and development activities in time and in a limited space. This time compression is the key to understanding disaster recovery, and it has numerous implications for practice.

As planners, we know that communities are built by many different actors, public and private, operating at multiple scales, with resource constraints, governmental policies, and the concerns of interest groups affecting the outcomes and timelines of the process. In normal times, successful navigation of the development process must steer through a complex interplay of economic, social, environmental, political, and legal concerns.

A large disaster changes none of this; it only compresses these activities in time. It is a mistake to envision disaster reconstruction as a top-down process, led by a czar who will someday be immortalized by a public monument. Rather, disaster recovery begins from the bottom up, just as all community development does--as residents seek housing, building owners seek resources for construction, and businesses look for ways to continue their work. It is a self-organizing system of a variety of recovery actors.

Using Information in Reconstruction Planning

The primary way in which time compression affects planning is by constraining the timely use of information. Imagine compressing a 3-year community planning process into three months. It’s possible but also likely to be challenging because of insufficient time to collect data, integrate it into planning, communicate among stakeholders, and digest it into policies. Information production and communication must substantially increase to accommodate the volume of activities during compressed time. Collection, digestion, and sharing of information empower the self-organizing system of builders.

Some of the ways to do this include:

  • Establish and support a variety of information nodes, such as data hubs and clearinghouses;
  • Facilitate planning discussions at all scales; Pay for neighborhood-scale planning activities;
  • Create councils of recovery stakeholders, who can advise planning processes and share information with their networks and encourage participation;
  • Create networks that connect neighborhood-based planning and reconstruction activities;
  • Create new bodies to better coordinate the activities of government agencies;
  • Emphasize transparency of government actions, with frequent public announcements, disclosure of recovery and reconstruction progress.

Building Back Better

After disasters, there is always a tension between change and a return to normalcy. Everyone yearns for what existed the day before the disaster. But at the same time, people also see the opportunity to make improvements or add on a little something more: another room, an ADU, a fire break, a rec center in the community park, a roundabout, a bike lane, a new fire station. Planners see this tension between the status quo and change as a tradeoff of time and resources: between rebuilding as quickly as possible or slowing down to consider the potential for change and develop comprehensive plans for betterment. In practice, speed is difficult to resist, because many actors want to rebuild as quickly as possible. The key is to deliberate more efficiently within the constraints of compressed time: to plan and build at the same time. This can be done by:

 (1) iterating by focusing on the easiest decisions first (especially where repairs are straightforward and change is not needed);

(2) increasing planning capacity by adding personnel or technical assistance (to help multiple recovery actors), or

(3) decentralizing and creating multiple paths for planning and decision-making (to connect neighborhood-based planning with multiple sources of assistance).

NGOs and Government

Another result of time compression is the emergence of non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, in disaster recovery. This should be expected and embraced. It happens because bureaucratic government agencies are inherently unsuited for the time-compressed post-disaster environment. When people say, “We were tired of waiting for government, so we decided to do it ourselves,” this is an indicator of a well-operating, self-organized recovery ecosystem.

Although government is just one of the recovery actors, it is the one that is best equipped to provide resources to the recovery ecosystem, in the form of both funding and information. Fortunately, much of L.A.’s housing recovery from the fires will be enabled by private insurance funds, but expediting permits will only help those who have the funds to rebuild and are ready to go, Everyone else—renters, the uninsured and under-insured, small businesses—will need government interventions and financial support. Government also can make the system of actors smarter by broadening the information flows in every possible way, such as by creating data hubs and clearinghouses, promoting transparency, supporting forums for coordination, and partnering with NGOs.

This is the Moment for Planners and Planning

The long-term reconstruction process is when planners take center stage. Because this is the moment when things get done—money flows, and people are aware and engaged—planners need to act, or the opportunity will be lost. This is the time to accomplish long-term hazard mitigation, as well as countless other planning goals. Today’s decisions will shape the community for decades.

This is the moment for planners and planning. Although the driving force of recovery is to quickly build back what was lost, it’s also an opportunity for considering the future and how to incorporate resilience and other community improvements into the rebuild. The last community land use plan in Pacific Palisades is dated 1996, and Altadena’s 1986 plan is currently being updated. These are the de facto recovery plans, and they are 30-40 years old.

Yes, it’s awkward to undertake planning right now, but it’s also the only time in history when everyone is thinking about how their community is built and how it works. Groups are already starting to self-organize on email lists and chat groups in both Altadena and Pacific Palisades, and some of them are going to coalesce for various reasons (to advocate for their needs, to organize the process of construction,andto advocate for some improvements).

Wholesale positive change never follows a big urban disaster, but reconstruction always involves small improvements in particular places, as well as improvements in infrastructure, building standards, and community involvement. To maximize these opportunities, the time to act is now.