The quality of existing infrastructure appears to have played an important role in restoring the quality of life after September 11th, including the safety and security of the population. This exploratory research focuses on time sensitive data and field research on urban infrastructure services provided before, during, and after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City, NY on September 11, 2001. The objective of this research is to better understand urban infrastructure systems behavior, resilience, and recovery under critical conditions with the aim of generalizing design and management (both operational and policy) characteristics that lead to resilient infrastructure.
Understanding the role of infrastructure in restoration involves examining a constellation of facilities and services at many levels, the impact of the event on them, the conditions of these services prior to the event, and the ability of the system to rebound. The research, therefore, explores pre-event infrastructure condition, service interruption, and infrastructure resiliency. Historical precedents and analogies as well as the trends in response and recovery are critical components of the evaluation of both initial vulnerability of the infrastructure and subsequent resiliency of the facilities services during the restoration period. The research will also include an evaluation of the impacts on the transport, energy, telecommunications, water, sewer, and solid waste management. The research will identify performance frameworks used in the emergency response, outputs such as measures that reflect management arrangements, system resiliency, and transferability to new situations. Moreover, interactions among the facilities will be examined, generalizations across infrastructure systems will be sought, as well as common lessons about how infrastructure organizations work together. Such lessons offer the broader impact of improved preparedness and response to future catastrophes, regardless of whether they are induced by natural, technological, or deliberate mechanisms. The research will also be conducted in the context of infrastructure services citywide and regionally and will thus provide valuable information to other municipalities and regions.
