Is Retreat Resilience? Learning from Environmental Disasters

Professor Jerold Kayden will address legal and political questions raised by rebuilding in place after a natural disaster, and why “retreat” as an option has yet to gain widespread support. Professor Kayden will discuss examples from the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, and Nepal.

Jerold S. Kayden (HLS ’79) is the Frank Backus Williams Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he previously served as Co-Chair of the Urban Planning and Design Department and Director of the Urban Planning Program. His teaching and scholarship focus on land use law and environmental law, public-private real estate development, public space in cities, and urban disaster resilience. Among many of Professor Kayden’s honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Teacher of the Year award at the Design School. Professor Kayden served as law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge James L. Oakes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Lunch will be served (Boloco, vegetarian burritos included).

Presented in collaboration with the HLS Environmental Law Society.