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2012
Angel, Shlomo, Jason Parent, Daniel L. Civco, and Alejandro M. Blei Atlas of Urban Expansion. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
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Abstract
At a time when the world’s cities are bursting with massive increases in population, the Atlas of Urban Expansion is a comprehensive guide to the past and future characteristics of metropolitan growth. In 2010 more than half of the world’s total population lived in cities, and this share is expected to increase to 70 percent or more by 2050. The world’s urban population is expected to increase from 3.5 billion in 2010 to 6.2 billion in 2050, and almost all of this growth is expected to take place in less-developed countries. Cities in developed countries will add only 160 million people to their populations during this period, while Cities in developing countries will need to absorb 15 times that number, or close to 2.6 billion people, thereby doubling their total urban population of 2.6 billion in 2010. Given the expected decline in urban densities, these cities are likely to more than triple their developed land areas by 2050.
Increased global awareness is needed to better understand and plan for this massive expansion of cities in developing countries, Angel says. Local and national governments, civic institutions, international organizations, and concerned citizens must make minimum adequate preparations. For example, it is vital that cities acquire the rights-of-way for arterial roads that can carry public transport and trunk infrastructure and protect selected open spaces from encroachment in advance of the coming expansion.
The main objective of this Atlas of Urban Expansion is to increase understanding and help residents, policy makers, and researchers around the world come to terms with the expected global urban expansion in the coming decades. The call to action is urgent, as the urbanization process now underway will be largely completed by the end of the 21st century. “Most people who desire to live in urban areas will already be in them by 2100, but by that time it will be too late to act,” Angel says. “If the land required for public works or public open spaces is not protected from encroachment before it is developed, it will be next to impossible to ensure the orderly development of cities to make them more efficient, more equitable, and more sustainable.”
The Atlas in book form introduces the project and presents two sets of full-color maps and a set of raw data tables. The first map section contains pairs of urban land cover maps from circa 1990 and 2000, representing a global sample of 120 cities. The second map section includes composite maps of a global representative sample of 30 cities, showing the historical expansion of their urbanized areas from 1800 to 2000. In both sections, the maps shown are paired with numerical and graphical data, making it possible to compare cities in terms of their metric values on key attributes of urban expansion. The third section contains four extensive tables of urban, national, and regional data for each of the 120 cities.
Ballon, Hilary The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011 . January 2012.
Abstract
Laying out Manhattan's street grid and providing a rationale for the growth of New York was the city's first great civic enterprise, not to mention a brazenly ambitious project and major milestone in the history of city planning. The grid created the physical conditions for business and society to flourish and embodied the drive and discipline for which the city would come to be known. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York celebrating the bicentennial of the Commissioners' 1811 Plan of Manhattan, this volume does more than memorialize such a visionary effort, it serves as an enduring reference full of rare images and information.
The Greatest Grid shares the history of the Commissioners' plan, incorporating archival photos and illustrations, primary documents and testimony, and magnificent maps with essential analysis. The text, written by leading historians of New York City, follows the grid's initial design, implementation, and evolution, and then speaks to its enduring influence. A foldout map, accompanied by explanatory notes, reproduces the Commissioners' original plan, and additional maps and prints chart the city's pre-1811 irregular growth patterns and local precedent for the grid's design. Constituting the first sustained examination of this subject, this text describes the social, political, and intellectual figures who were instrumental in remaking early New York, not in the image of old Europe but as a reflection of other American cities and a distinct New World sensibility. The grid reaffirmed old hierarchies while creating new opportunities for power and advancement, giving rise to the multicultural, highly networked landscape New Yorkers thrive in today.
Been, V., S. Dastrup, I.G. Ellen, B. Gross, A. Hayashi, S. Latham, M. Lewit, J. Madar, V. Reina, M. Weselcouch, and M. Williams. State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods 2011. Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, New York University.
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Abstract
Kaufman, Sarah, Carson Qing, Nolan Levenson and Melinda Hanson Transportation During and After Hurricane Sandy. Rudin Center for Transportation, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, November 2012.
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Abstract
Hurricane Sandy demonstrated the strengths and limits of the transportation
infrastructure in New York City and the surrounding region. As a result of the
timely and thorough preparations by New York City and the MTA, along with
the actions of city residents and emergency workers to evacuate and adapt, the
storm wrought far fewer casualties than might have occurred otherwise.
This report evaluates storm preparation and response by New York City and the MTA, discusses New Yorkers' ingenuity in work continuity, and recommends infrastructure and policy improvements.
Matthew Drennan and Brecher, Charles Can Public Transportation Increase Economic Efficiency? ACCESS Magazine.
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Abstract
The concentration of economic activities in urban areas yields efficiency gains due to agglomeration economies. Matthew Drennan and Charles Brecher measure whether public transportation service can add to these benefits and make urban areas more productive.
Moss, Mitchell L. and Carson Qing. The Dynamic Population of Manhattan. Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, Wagner School of Public Service, New York University, March, 2012.
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Abstract
We cannot understand Manhattan in the 21st century by relying on conventional measures of urban activity. Simply put, Manhattan consists of much more than its residential population and daily workforce. This island, measuring just 22.96 square miles, serves approximately 4 million people on a typical weekday, 2.9 million on a weekend day, and a weekday night population of 2.05 million. Manhattan, with a residential population of 1.6 million more than doubles its daytime population as a result of the complex network of tunnels, bridges, railroad lines, subways, commuter rail, ferry systems, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian walkways that link Manhattan to the surrounding counties, cities and towns.
This transportation infrastructure, largely built during the twentieth century, is operated by the City of New York, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. The infrastructure network generates a constant flow of people who are responsible for Manhattan's emergence as a world capital for finance, media, fashion, and the arts.
The residential population count does not include the 1.6 million commuters who enter Manhattan every weekday, or the hundreds of thousands of visitors who use Manhattan's tourist attractions, hospitals, universities, and nightclubs. This report analyzes the volume of people flowing in and out of Manhattan during a 24-hour period; we provide an upper estimate of the actual number of people in Manhattan during a typical work day.
Women of Color Policy Network The 2013 Federal Budget's Impact on Communities of Color and Low-Income Families. .
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Abstract
The Obama administration's budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 (FY 2013) strengthens the national economy by investing in schools, communities and safety net programs. The FY 2013 budget also includes a number of important investments in infrastructure that will spur much needed job growth in a time of economic uncertainty for many working and low-income families. It is critical that such investments take into account the persistently high unemployment in communities of color, and target spending to increase the economic security of the communities most impacted by the "Great Recession." Additionally, the budget includes important changes to the tax code that will lay the foundation for a fairer and more equitable economy.
Zimmerman, Rae Transport, the Environment and Security: Making the Connection. Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd.
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Abstract
Effective means of transport are critical under both normal and extreme conditions, but modern transport systems are subject to many diverse demands. This path-breaking book uniquely draws together the typically conflicting arenas of transport, the environment and security, and provides collective solutions to their respective issues and challenges.
From a primarily urban perspective, the author illustrates that the fields of transportation, environment (with an emphasis on climate change) and security (for both natural hazards and terrorism) and their interconnections remain robust areas for policy and planning. Synthesizing existing data, new analyses, and a rich set of case studies, the book uses transportation networks as a framework to explore transportation in conjunction with environment, security, and interdependencies with other infrastructure sectors. The US rail transit system, ecological corridors, cyber security, planning mechanisms and the effectiveness of technologies are among the topics explored in detail. Case studies of severe and potential impacts of natural hazards, accidents, and security breaches on transportation are presented. These cases support the analyses of the forces on transportation, land use and patterns of population change that connect, disconnect and reconnect people from their environment and security.
The book will prove a fascinating and insightful read for academics, students, and practitioners across a wide range of fields including: transport, environmental economics, environmental management, urban planning, public policy, and terrorism and security.
2011
Boarnet, M.G., Forsyth, A., Day, K. & J.M. Oakes. The street level built environment and physical activity and walking: Results of a predictive validity study for the Irvine Minnesota Inventory. Environment & Behavior 43 (6): 735-775 .
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Abstract
The Irvine Minnesota Inventory (IMI) was designed to measure environmental features that may be associated with physical activity and particularly walking. This study assesses how well the IMI predicts physical activity and walking behavior and develops shortened, validated audit tools. A version of the IMI was used in the Twin Cities Walking Study, a research project measuring how density, street pattern, mixed use, pedestrian infrastructure, and a variety of social and economic factors affect walking. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the predictive value of the IMI. We find that while this inventory provides reliable measurement of urban design features, only some of these features present associations with increased or decreased walking. This article presents two versions of shortened scales—a prudent scale, requiring association with two separate measures of a physical activity or walking behavior, and a moderate scale, requiring association with one measure of physical activity or walking. The shortened scales provide built environment audit instruments that have been tested both for inter-rater reliability and for associations with physical activity and walking. The results are also useful in showing which built environment variables are more reliably associated with walking for travel—characteristics of the sidewalk infrastructure, street crossings and traffic speeds, and land use are more strongly associated with walking for travel, while factors that measure aesthetics are typically less strongly associated with walking for travel.
C. Rosenzweig, W. D. Solecki, R. Blake, M. Bowman, C. Faris, V. Gornitz, R. Horton, K.
Jacob, A. LeBlanc, R. Leichenko, M. Linkin, D. Major, M. O’Grady, L. Patrick, E. Sussman, G.
Yohe, R. Zimmerman.
Developing coastal adaptation to climate change in the New
York City infrastructure-shed: process, approach, tools, and strategies. .
Abstract
While current rates of sea level rise and associated coastal flooding in the New York City region appear to be manageable by stakeholders responsible for communications, energy, transportation, and water infrastructure, projections for sea level rise and associated flooding in the future, especially those associated with rapid icemelt of the Greenland and West Antarctic Icesheets, may be outside the range of current capacity because extreme events might cause flooding beyond today's planning and preparedness regimes. This paper describes the comprehensive process, approach, and tools for adaptation developed by the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) in conjunction with the region's stakeholders who manage its critical infrastructure, much of which lies near the coast. It presents the adaptation framework and the sea-level rise and storm projections related to coastal risks developed through the stakeholder process. Climate change adaptation planning in New York City is characterized by a multi-jurisdictional stakeholder-scientist process, state-of-the-art scientific projections and mapping, and development of adaptation strategies based on a risk-management approach.
Grépin, Karen. Leveraging HIV Programs to Deliver an Integrated Package of Health Services: Some Words of Caution.
JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes:
1 August 2011 - Volume 57 - Issue - pp S77-S79
doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e31821f6afa
.
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Abstract
Over the past decade, HIV programs have been successfully scaled up in many developing countries, leading some to wonder how the investments made into HIV infrastructure could be leveraged to deliver additional health services. Although the concept is appealing from many perspectives, integrating additional health services into existing vertical HIV infrastructure may not mitigate some of the challenges these programs have introduced in implementing countries. In addition, this approach to integration may countervail parallel efforts of the global health community to strengthen health systems and improve aid effectiveness. It might also undermine the HIV programs themselves. International donors and health system planners should carefully consider whether the benefits outweigh the potential costs of these well-intentioned integration efforts.
J. S. Simonoff, C. E. Restrepo, R. Zimmerman, Z. S. Naphtali, and H. H. Willis. Resource Allocation, Emergency Response Capability and Infrastructure Concentration Around Vulnerable Sites. First published on: 14 April 2011, forthcoming 2011, Journal of Risk Research, 18pp. doi:10.1080/13669877.2010.547257.
Abstract
Public and private decision-makers continue to seek risk-based approaches to allocate funds to help communities respond to disasters, accidents, and terrorist attacks involving critical infrastructure facilities. The requirements for emergency response capability depend both upon risks within a region's jurisdiction and mutual aid agreements that have been made with other regions. In general, regions in close proximity to infrastructure would benefit more from resources to improve preparedness because there is a greater potential for an event requiring emergency response to occur if there are more facilities at which such events could occur. Thus, a potentially important input into decisions about allocating funds for security is the proximity of a community to high concentrations of infrastructure systems that potentially could be at risk to an industrial accident, natural disaster, or terrorist attack. In this paper, we describe a methodology for measuring a region's exposure to infrastructure-related risks that captures both a community's concentration of facilities or sites considered to be vulnerable and of the proximity of these facilities to surrounding infrastructure systems. These measures are based on smoothing-based nonparametric probability density estimators, which are then used to estimate the probability of the entire infrastructure occurring within any specified distance of facilities in a county. The set of facilities used in the paper to illustrate the use of this methodology consists of facilities identified as vulnerable through the California Buffer Zone Protection Program. For infrastructure in surrounding areas we use dams judged to be high hazards, and BART tracks. The results show that the methodology provides information about patterns of critical infrastructure in regions that is relevant for decisions about how to allocate terrorism security and emergency preparedness resources.
J.S. Simonoff, C.E. Restrepo, and R. Zimmerman. Current Risk Management Issues for Hazardous Liquids and Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure. .
N. Privett and F. Erhun Efficient Funding: Auditing in the Nonprofit Sector. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. 13(4) 471-488.
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Abstract
Nonprofit organizations are a critical part of society as well as a growing sector of the economy. For funders there is an increasing and pressing need to ensure that society reaps the most social benefit for their money while also developing the nonprofit sector as a whole. By routinely scrutinizing nonprofit reports in an effort to deduce whether a nonprofit organization is efficient, funders may believe that they are, in fact, giving responsibly. However, we find that these nonprofit reports are unreliable, supporting a myriad of empirical research and revealing that report-based funding methods do not facilitate efficient allocation of funds. In response, we develop audit contracts that put funders in a position to enact change. Auditing, perhaps obviously, supports funders; however, we find that it also benefits the population of nonprofits. Moreover, auditing results in improved efficiency for the nonprofit sector overall. Indeed, our conclusions indicate that nonprofits may want to work with funders to increase the use of auditing, consequently increasing efficiency for the sector overall and impacting society as a whole.
Women of Color Policy Network Analysis of FY 2012 Budget and Deficit Reduction Plans. Women of Color Policy Network. "Analysis of FY 2012 Budget and Deficit Reduction Plans." April 2011.
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Abstract
This month, Chairman of the House Budget Committee Representative Paul Ryan, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and President Obama shared three very different FY 2012 budget proposals and deficit reduction strategies. The CPC's People's Budget calls for investments in job creation and deficit elimination by increasing tax revenues from the wealthy. President Obama's deficit reduction plan combines spending cuts, tax reform and enhancing the Affordable Care Act to reduce growth in health care spending. Representative Ryan's proposal extends tax cuts to wealthy individuals and corporations, while cutting social safety net programs such as food stamps, housing assistance, and Pell Grants. This policy brief evaluates each proposal's impact on people of color and recommends investing in job creation and infrastructure to strengthen communities in times of hardship and prosperity.
2010
Brooks, Galin Reusing and Repurposing New York City's Infrastructure: Case Studies of Reused Transportation Infrastructure
. RCWP 10-005.
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Abstract
The High Line, Brooklyn Navy Yards, Pier 40 and Myrtle Avenue Station, are examples of projects that are reinventing how we think about the use of infrastructure spaces in New York City. What are the characteristics that define such projects and how is that they have been successful? This paper attempts to provide answers to this question by reviewing four case studies of repurposed transportation infrastructures, drawing out their commonalities and discussing their policy implications.
Gusmano, M.K., Rodwin, V.G. & Weisz, D. Health Care in World Cities: New York, London and Paris. Johns Hopkins University Press, April.
JHPPL Book Review
Abstract
New York. London. Paris. Although these cities have similar sociodemographic characteristics, including income inequalities and ethic diversity, they have vastly different health systems and services. This book compares the three and considers lessons that can be applied to current and future debates about urban health care.
Highlighting the importance of a national policy for city health systems, the authors use well-established indicators and comparable data sources to shed light on urban health policy and practice. Their detailed comparison of the three city health systems and the national policy regimes in which they function provides information about access to health care in the developed world's largest cities.
The authors first review the current literature on comparative analysis of health systems and offer a brief overview of the public health infrastructure in each city. Later chapters illustrate how timely and appropriate disease prevention, primary care, and specialty health care services can help cities control such problems as premature mortality and heart disease.
In providing empirical comparisons of access to care in these three health systems, the authors refute inaccurate claims about health care outside of the United States.
Click here for a brief excerpt of the content.
Iskander, N. Creative State: Forty Years of Migration and Development Policy in Morocco and Mexico. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Abstract
At the turn of the twenty-first century, with the amount of money emigrants sent home soaring to new highs, governments around the world began searching for ways to capitalize on emigration for economic growth, and they looked to nations that already had policies in place. Morocco and Mexico featured prominently as sources of "best practices" in this area, with tailor-made financial instruments that brought migrants into the banking system, captured remittances for national development projects, fostered partnerships with emigrants for infrastructure design and provision, hosted transnational forums for development planning, and emboldened cross-border political lobbies.
In Creative State, Natasha Iskander chronicles how these innovative policies emerged and evolved over forty years. She reveals that the Moroccan and Mexican policies emulated as models of excellence were not initially devised to link emigration to development, but rather were deployed to strengthen both governments' domestic hold on power. The process of policy design, however, was so iterative and improvisational that neither the governments nor their migrant constituencies ever predicted, much less intended, the ways the new initiatives would gradually but fundamentally redefine nationhood, development, and citizenship. Morocco's and Mexico's experiences with migration and development policy demonstrate that far from being a prosaic institution resistant to change, the state can be a remarkable site of creativity, an essential but often overlooked component of good governance.
Light, Paul C. and and Catherine B. Reynolds Driving Social Change: How to Solve the World's Toughest Problems. Wiley, Dec. 2010.
Amazon Books
Abstract
Has the role of the social entrepreneur been glorified as the primary driver of social breakthrough? Have we neglected the important role that all change agents play? What must be done to create the networks that create so many breakthroughs? How does the breakthrough cycle actually work? How do we strengthen the infrastructure that supports social change organizations in their quest? Driving Social Change is the ultimate introduction to the many steps needed to challenge and replace the prevailing wisdom.
Based on the latest research from author, professor, and Washington Post online columnist Paul C. Light, Driving Social Change confronts head-on the seemingly eternal questions of solving tough, even intractable, social problems. Starting with the definition of social entrepreneurship as a powerful driver of social change, it goes well beyond the concept to a more detailed assessment of the "breakthrough" cycle with several other drivers. Along the way, the book focuses on the need to protect past social breakthroughs from complacency and counterattack.
If our purpose is to change the world, writes Light, we must concentrate on every driver possible, not just the ones we can see. To that end, the book highlights alternative paths to creating social breakthrough and provides actionable advice, exploring:
-Strategies to broaden the definition of social entrepreneurship
-Tactics to build strong social organizations and networks
-Dynamic methods to respond to constant economic and social change
-The journey from initial commitment to a world of justice and opportunity
As much as social entrepreneurship is a wondrous, inspirational act, even more extraordinary is the creation of durable social impact through whatever means necessary. Driving Social Change tells us that we should be less concerned about the tools of agitation and more concerned about the disruption and replacement of the status quo.
Holding old mindsets up to the light of day, this timely book unflinchingly addresses the change process and challenges us to question our beliefs about how it really works.
Perl, Anthony Integrating High Speed Rail into North America's Next Mobility Transition. RCWP 10-008June 2010.
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Abstract
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has opened a window for implementing high-speed passenger rail operations in the U.S. Because North America had never pursued high-speed rail as a national transportation priority, the planning framework for designing such services and linking them to the national transportation system was never created. An intermodal integration strategy will thus have to be developed in parallel with the designs for new high-speed train services, if these projects are to achieve their potential.
Connecting these new high-speed passenger rail routes to airport, highway, and transit infrastructure and integrating train operations with aviation, transit and vehicular travel will facilitate future use of high-speed trains and enable high-speed rail supportive land uses to evolve. But designing tomorrow’s high-speed rail to fit into today’s air and surface transportation network would yield suboptimal results. A successful intermodal integration plan for high-speed rail will need to anticipate evolution in air and surface transportation modes that will adapt to the energy and climate challenges shaping future mobility.
Zimmerman, R. Transportation Recovery in an Age of Disasters. Proceedings of the Transportation Research Board 89th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
Abstract
Zimmerman, R. & Faris, C. Infrastructure Impacts and Adaptation Challenges. Chapter 4 in New York City Panel on Climate Change 2010 Report, Climate Change Adaptation in New York City: Building a Risk Management Response, C. Rosenzweig and W. Solecki, Eds. Prepared for use by the New York City Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.
Abstract
Zimmerman, R., Restrepo, C.E. & Simonoff, J.S. The Age of Infrastructure in a Time of Security and Natural Hazards. Proceedings of the DHS Aging Infrastructures Workshop, forthcoming 2010.
2009
C. Restrepo, J. Simonoff, and Rae Zimmerman Causes, Cost Consequences, and Risk Implications of Accidents in U.S. Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Infrastructure. International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection Vol. 2 No. 1+2, 2009, pp.: 38-50.
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Abstract
In this paper the causes and consequences of accidents in US hazardous liquid pipelines that result in the unplanned release of hazardous liquids are examined. Understanding how different causes of accidents are associated with consequence measures can provide important inputs into risk management for this (and other) critical infrastructure systems. Data on 1582 accidents related to hazardous liquid pipelines for the period 2002–2005 are analyzed. The data were obtained from the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). Of the 25 different causes of accidents included in the data the most common ones are equipment malfunction, corrosion, material and weld failures, and incorrect operation. This paper focuses on one type of consequence–various costs associated with these pipeline accidents–and causes associated with them. The following economic consequence measures related to accident cost are examined: the value of the product lost; public, private, and operator property damage; and cleanup, recovery, and other costs. Logistic regression modeling is used to determine what factors are associated with nonzero product loss cost, nonzero property damage cost and nonzero cleanup and recovery costs. The factors examined include the system part involved in the accident, location characteristics (offshore versus onshore location, occurrence in a high consequence area), and whether there was liquid ignition, an explosion, and/or a liquid spill. For the accidents associated with nonzero values for these consequence measures (weighted) least squares regression is used to understand the factors related to them, as well as how the different initiating causes of the accidents are associated with the consequence measures. The results of these models are then used to construct illustrative scenarios for hazardous liquid pipeline accidents. These scenarios suggest that the magnitude of consequence measures such as value of product lost, property damage and cleanup and recovery costs are highly dependent on accident cause and other accident characteristics. The regression models used to construct these scenarios constitute an analytical tool that industry decision-makers can use to estimate the possible consequences of accidents in these pipeline systems by cause (and other characteristics) and to allocate resources for maintenance and to reduce risk factors in these systems.
Greenberg, M. & Zimmerman, R. Distribution of Federal Anti-Terrorism Funds in the United States: a Comparison of Data-Driven Approaches Based on Electric Power Generation. Terrorism Issues: Threat Assessment, Consequences and Prevention. Edited by F. Columbus. Hauppauge. NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Simonoff, J.S., Restrepo, C.E. & Zimmerman, R. Risk Management of Cost Consequences in Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution Infrastructures. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, Vol. 23.
2008
Bier, V.M., Haphuriwat, N., Menoyo, J., Zimmerman, R. & Culpen, A. Optimal Resource Allocation for Defense of Targets Based on Differing Measures of Attractiveness. Risk Analysis, Vol. 28, No. 3.
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Abstract
This article describes the results of applying a rigorous computational model to the problem of the optimal defensive resource allocation among potential terrorist targets. In particular, our study explores how the optimal budget allocation depends on the cost effectiveness of security investments, the defender's valuations of the various targets, and the extent of the defender's uncertainty about the attacker's target valuations. We use expected property damage, expected fatalities, and two metrics of critical infrastructure (airports and bridges) as our measures of target attractiveness. Our results show that the cost effectiveness of security investment has a large impact on the optimal budget allocation. Also, different measures of target attractiveness yield different optimal budget allocations, emphasizing the importance of developing more realistic terrorist objective functions for use in budget allocation decisions for homeland security.
Iskander, N. Diaspora Networks for National Infrastructure: Rural Morocco, 1985-2005. In J. Brikenhoff ed. Diasporas and Development: Exploring the Potential. Washington, D. C. : Lynne Reider.
Restrepo, C. & Zimmerman, R. Environmental Justice. Encyclopedia of Quantitative Risk Assessment. Edited by B. Everitt and E. Melnick. John Wiley Publishers. New York, NY, .
Abstract
Quantitative risk assessment is a growing, important component of the larger field of risk assessment. The need to understand the risks of an activity, be it economic, environmental, public health/biomedical, or even based on terrorist or other hazardous impacts, has led to a number of methods of analysis for many different application scenarios. Indeed, all major areas of the larger endeavor - hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization - rely on and benefit from quantitative operations. Within these contexts, enhanced understanding of both the variability and the uncertainty inherent in the risk identification process is critically dependent upon proper implementation of appropriate statistical methodologies.
Simonoff, J.S., Restrepo, C., Zimmerman, R. & Naphtali, Z. Analysis of Electrical Power and Oil and Gas Pipeline Failures. Critical Infrastructure Protection, edited by E.D. Goetz and S. Shenoi. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 381-394.
Abstract
This paper examines the spatial and temporal distribution of failures in three critical infrastructure systems in the United States: the electrical power grid, hazardous liquids (including oil) pipelines, and natural gas pipelines. The analyses are carried out at the state level, though the analytical frameworks are applicable to other geographic areas and infrastructure types. The paper also discusses how understanding the spatial distribution of these failures can be used as an input into risk management policies to improve the performance of these systems, as well as for security and natural hazards mitigation.
Simonoff, J.S., Restrepo, C., Zimmerman, R. & Naphtali, Z. Analysis of Electrical Power and Oil and Gas Pipeline Failures. Critical Infrastructure Protection: Issues and Solutions. Edited by Goetz, E.D. and S. Shenoi. New York, NY: Springer, .
Zimmerman, R. Managing Infrastructure Resiliency, Safety and Security. Encyclopedia of Quantitative Risk Assessment. Edited by B. Everitt and E. Melnick. John Wiley Publishers. New York, NY. .
Zimmerman, R., Restrepo, C. & Simonoff, J.S. Infrastructure Disruptions and Recovery Rates in Disasters. ASCE Metropolitan Section Infrastructure Group Technical Seminar "New York City Infrastructure Critical Needs," Polytechnic University, March 24-25, pp. 28-35.
2007
Ballon, H. & Jackson, K.T. eds. Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York. W.W. Norton.
Abstract
Brecher, C. & Mustovic, S. A Prescription for Getting the MTA on the Right Fiscal Track. The Stamford Review, Fall, pp. 27-24.
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Abstract
Typically when an asset is acquired it is assigned a "useful life" representing the amount of time it can be expected to stay in use. Then a fraction of the asset's purchase price, equal to one year of its "useful life," is counted as an annual expenditure called depreciation. The MTA's depreciation schedules are based upon estimated useful lives of 25 to 50 years for buildings, two to 40 years for equipment, and 25 to 100 years for infrastructure. Most subway cars are depreciated over 30 years and buses over 12 years. Setting aside money equal to the value of depreciation, known as "funding depreciation," is a way of ensuring that an organization has adequate capital to replace assets at the end of their useful life. In contrast, failing to fund depreciation enables an organization to meet its cash expenses each year without having a budget that is balanced under generally accepted accounting principles. However, the adverse consequence of this practice is a shortage of capital and a resulting need to borrow in order to replace depreciated assets. This is the path the MTA routinely takes.
de Cerreño, A.L.C., Publisher, Sterman, B.P., Editor, Panero, M.A., Associate Editor. The New York Transportation Journal. Vol. XI No. 1, Fall .
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Abstract
Fritzen, Scott. Legacies of Primary Health Care in an era of health sector reform: Vietnam’s commune clinics in transition. Social Science & Medicine 64: 1611-1623.
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Abstract
Developing countries that were early, enthusiastic adopters of Primary Health Care often developed an extensive – but eventually dilapidated and under-utilized – network of public clinics at the grassroots. As paradigms and investment patterns of health sector reform have shifted, the question of what role these public clinics can meaningfully play, and how best to revitalize them, has become important in a number of countries. This paper evaluates the strategy taken by, and outcomes of, a major attempt in Vietnam to revitalize the grassroots infrastructure of primary health care against the backdrop of the country’s economic transition. The project’s substantial supply-side investments in infrastructure led to marginal increases in utilization and the quality of preventive health services provided by the centers. But because the project failed to take adequate stock of broader, public sector-wide trends and reforms over the transition, the investments had little impact on the incentives, accountability patterns and capacities of clinic staff and the local authorities. Such institutional factors are heavily implicated, in Vietnam as elsewhere, in the substantial and often increasing disparities in service access and quality that continue to afflict transitional health sectors.
Fritzen, Scott. From infrastructure to institutions: Reforming primary health care in Vietnam.. In Social Issues in Vietnam’s Economic Transformation: Vol 2 (ed: Giang Thanh Long), Hanoi: National Political Publishing House, pp. 51-86.
Fulmer, T., Portelli, I., Foltin, G.L., Zimmerman, R., Chachkes, E. & Goldfrank, L.R. Organization-Based Incident Management: Developing a Disaster Volunteer Role on a University Campus. Journal of Disaster Management and Response, July-September .
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Abstract
Catastrophic events are an ongoing part of life, affecting society both locally and globally. Recruitment, development, and retention of volunteers who offer their knowledge and skills in the event of a disaster are essential to ensuring a functional workforce during catastrophes. These opportunities also address the inherent need for individuals to feel necessary and useful in times of crisis. Universities are a particularly important setting for voluntary action, given that they are based in communities and have access to resources and capabilities to bring to bear on an emergency situation.
The purpose of the study was to discern how one large private organization might participate and respond in the case of a large scale disaster. Using a 2-phase random sample survey, 337 unique respondents (5.7%) out of a sample of 6000 replied to the survey. These data indicate that volunteers in a private organization are willing to assist in disasters and have skills that can be useful in disaster mitigation.
Much is to be learned related to the deployment of volunteers during disaster. These findings suggest that volunteers can and will help and that disaster preparedness drills are a logical next step for university-based volunteers.
Greenberg M., N. Mantell, M. Lahr, F. Felder & Zimmerman, R. Short and Intermediate Economic Impacts of a Terrorist-Initiated Loss of Electric Power: Case Study of New Jersey. Energy Policy, .
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Abstract
The economic impacts of potential terrorist attacks on the New Jersey electric power system are examined using a regional econometric model. The magnitude and duration of the effects vary by type of business and income measure. We assume damage is done during in the summer 2005 quarter, a peak period for energy use. The state economy recovers within a year, if we assume that economic activity is restored in the next time period. However, if the attacks prompt an absolute of loss of activity due to firm relocation, closing, and geographical changes in expansion plans, then the economy does not fully recover by the year 2010. Hence, the electrical power system's resiliency to damage is the key to the extent and duration of any economic consequences of a terrorist attack, at least in New Jersey. The policy implication is that the costs and benefits of making the electric power system more resilient to plausible attacks should be weighed and that the restorative capacity of the system should be strengthened. [Copyright 2007 Elsevier]
Naphtali, Z.S. & Restrepo, C., Zimmerman, R. Using GIS to Examine Environmental Injustice in the South Bronx. The Case of Waste Transfer Stations. Connect, Spring/Summer 2007, pp. 23-28.
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Abstract
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as "...the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies."2 Environmental injustice has been defined as the disproportionate exposure of communities of color and poor people, or other vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly, to environmental risks.3
In the analyses described in this article, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)4 techniques and models were used extensively to facilitate and streamline the analysis of demographic and socioeconomic data about people living in close proximity to waste transfer stations and major highways, and to determine whether a disproportionate number of people in communities of color and poor people live in proximity to these sites. The area of application for this analysis was a portion of the South Bronx, New York.
Simonoff, J.S., Restrepo, C. & Zimmerman, R. Risk Management and Risk Analysis-Based Decision Tools for Attacks on Electric Power. Risk Analysis, June 2007, Volume 27, Number 3, pp. 547-570.
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Abstract
Incident data about disruptions to the electric power grid provide useful information that can be used as inputs into risk management policies in the energy sector for disruptions from a variety of origins, including terrorist attacks. This article uses data from the Disturbance Analysis Working Group (DAWG) database, which is maintained by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), to look at incidents over time in the United States and Canada for the period 1990-2004. Negative binomial regression, logistic regression, and weighted least squares regression are used to gain a better understanding of how these disturbances varied over time and by season during this period, and to analyze how characteristics such as number of customers lost and outage duration are related to different characteristics of the outages. The results of the models can be used as inputs to construct various scenarios to estimate potential outcomes of electric power outages, encompassing the risks, consequences, and costs of such outages.
2006
Brecher, C. & Brill, J. New York’s Public Authorities: Promoting Accountability and Taming Debt. Citizen Budget Commission, September .
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Abstract
The New York City Affairs Committee (the "Committee") of the New York City Bar Association (the "Association") conducted an extensive review of the financing by New York City ("City") of the development of the Hudson Rail Yards, a 45-block area on the far west side of Manhattan adjacent to the mid-Manhattan central business district. The Committee focused on the historical and fiscal ramifications of the financing and its incentive structures which can be fairly characterized as creative and unusual. The Association's review is intended to provoke discussion about the means of financing infrastructure in New York City.
de Cerreño, A.L.C., Robins, M.E., Woods, P. Strauss-Wieder, A. & Yeung, R. Bi-State Domestic Freight Ferries Study. Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in conjunction with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, September 2006.
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Abstract
Moss, M. The Stafford Act: An Agenda for Reform. Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response, New York University, .
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Abstract
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act) is the principal legislation governing the federal response to disasters within the United States. The act spells out - among other things - how disasters are declared, the types of assistance to be provided, and the cost sharing arrangements between federal, state, and local governments. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the primary federal agency responsible for responding to disasters within the United States, carrying out the provisions of the Stafford Act, and distributing assistance provided by the act. The Stafford Act establishes two incident levels - emergencies and major disasters. Emergencies tend to be smaller events where a limited federal role will suffice. Major disasters are larger events - but this can run the gamut from a blizzard in Buffalo to a major earthquake in southern California that affects millions. In other words, no distinction, and no special response, is provided in the Stafford Act following catastrophes such as major earthquakes and hurricanes. The Stafford Act should be amended to establish a response level for catastrophic events. The Stafford Act does not adequately recognize 21st century threats. For example, the definition of a major disaster does not cover chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attacks or accidents. The act should further be amended to encompass 21st century threats.
This report does not focus on the performance of government agencies immediately following a disaster- these have been well documented by others. Rather, this report focuses on the federal role in the long-term recovery and rebuilding process following catastrophes, and what can be done to improve the effectiveness of the federal government in aiding these efforts.
Moss, M. & Townsend, A. Disaster Forensics: Leveraging Crisis Information Systems for Social Science. Proceedings of the Third International ISCRAM Conference edited by R Van De Walle and M Turroff. Newark Institute of Technology, May .
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Abstract
This paper contributes to the literature on information systems in crisis management by providing an overview of
emerging technologies for sensing and recording sociological data about disasters. These technologies are transforming our capacity to gather data about what happens during disasters, and our ability to reconstruct the social dynamics of affected communities. Our approach takes a broad review of disaster research literature, current research efforts and new reports from recent disasters, especially Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean Tsunami. We forecast that sensor networks will revolutionize conceptual and empirical approaches to research in the social sciences, by providing unprecedented volumes of high-quality data on movements, communication and response activities by both formal and informal actors. We conclude with a set of recommendations to designers of crisis management information systems to design systems that can support social science research, and argue for the inclusion of post-disaster social research as a design consideration in such systems.
Noveck, Beth Trademark Law and the Social Construction of Trust: Creating the Legal Framework for On-Line Identity. 83 Wash. U. L. Q. 1733.
Abstract
The intellectual property system has fostered many debates, including recent ones, regarding how the system affects access to knowledge. Yet, before one can access, one must preserve. Two interconnected problems posed by the growth of online creation illustrate the predicament. First, unlike analog creations, important digital creations such as e-mails and word-processed documents are mediated and controlled by second parties. Thus, although these creations are core intellectual property, they are not treated as such. Service providers and software makers terminate or deny access to people’s digital property all the time. In addition, when one dies, some service providers refuse to grant heirs access to this property. The uneven and unclear management of these creations means that society will lose access to perhaps the greatest chronicling of human experience ever. Accordingly, this Article investigates and sets forth the theoretical foundations to explain why and how society should preserve this property. In so doing the Article finds that a second problem, which can be understood as one of control, arises.
This Article is the first in a series of works aimed at investigating the nature and extent of control one may have or exert over a work. As such, this Article begins the project by examining the normative theories behind creators’, heirs’, and society’s interests in the works. All three groups have interests in preservation, but the basis for the claims differs. In addition, an examination of the theoretical basis for these claims shows that the nature of the attention economy in conjunction with labor- and persona-based property theories support the position that in life a creator has strong claims for control over her intangible creations. Yet, the Article finds that historical and literary theory combined with recent economic theory as advanced by Professors Brett Frischmann and Mark Lemley regarding spillovers—positive externalities generated by access to ideas and information—reveals two points. First, these views support the need for better preservation of digital intellectual property insofar as it is infrastructure and has the potential for spillover effects. Second, although the creator may be best placed to manage and exert control of the works at issue, once the creator dies, literary, historical, and economic theory show that the claims for control diminish if not vanish. The explication and implications of this second point are explored elsewhere. This Article lays the groundwork for seeing that creators may need and have powerful claims for access and control over their works but that these same claims are necessarily limited by an understanding of the nature of creation and creative systems. The dividing line falls between life and death. The life and death distinction that this Article offers seeks to balance creators’ interests in control over a work and society’s interests in fostering later expressions and creations of new works. This Article examines the life side of the line.
Restrepo, C., Simonoff, J.S. & Zimmerman, R. Unraveling Geographic Interdependencies in Electric Power Infrastructure. Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences .
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Abstract
Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'06): "Interdependencies among infrastructure systems are now becoming commonplace, and present both opportunities and vulnerabilities. Initial attention was paid to functional interdependencies among infrastructure systems regardless of locational characteristics. Using electric power as a focal point, geographic interdependencies are evaluated, that is, outages that spread across several states rather than being confined to single states. The analysis evaluates the extent to which the two different groups have distinct characteristics. The characteristics examined include incident counts, number of customers lost, duration and energy unserved. Data are drawn from the Disturbance Analysis Working Group (DAWG) database, which is maintained by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), and from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)."
Zimmerman, R. Infrastructure Support for Emergency Response: Preliminary Criteria and Indicators for Infrastructure Linkages to Emergency Services. Draft Working Paper for the NYU Center for Catastrophe Preparedness & Response, July 27 pp. View Publication
Zimmerman, R. & Restrepo, C.. The Next Step: Quantifying Infrastructure Interdependencies to Improve Security. International Journal of Critical Infrastructures. UK: Inderscience Enterprices, Ltd. 2005.
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Abstract
In International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, Vol. 2, (2/3), pp. 215-230, UK: Inderscience Enterprises, Ltd.: "Understanding cascading effects among interdependent infrastructure systems can have an important effect on public policies that aim to address vulnerabilities in critical infrastructures, especially those policies pertaining to infrastructure security. Efforts to quantify these cascading effects and illustrative examples of such metrics are presented. The first set of examples is based upon various impacts that the 14th August, 2003 blackout in the USA had on other sectors. A second set of examples is based on various electric power outages and their impact on other infrastructure systems collected from the authors' research. Although efforts to quantify cascading effects are challenging, given the nature of the data and its limited availability, research in this area can provide useful metrics."
Zimmerman, R., Restrepo, C., Simonoff, J.S. & Lave, L.B., Risks and Costs of a Terrorist Attack on the Electricity System. The Economic Impacts of Terrorist Attacks Volume 2, edited by H.W. Richardson, P. Gordon and J.E. Moore II, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.
Abstract
As suggested by the title, this is a collection of essays on the economic effects of successful terrorist attacks focusing on the electrical transmission, and transportation infrastructure of the United States. Those familiar with the literature on the economic effects of natural disasters will
find the arguments and economic models quite familiar. The individual essays are by leading experts who do not necessarily agree on the most appropriate methods or policy conclusions. This provides a refreshing measure of potential controversy.
2005
Boarnet, M., Anderson, C., Day, K., McMillan, T., & M. Alfonzo. Evaluation of the California Safe Routes to School legislation: Urban form changes and children’s active transportation to school. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(2S2), 134–140.
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Abstract
Background
Walking or bicycling to school could contribute to children’s daily physical activity, but physical environment changes are often needed to improve the safety and convenience of walking and cycling routes. The California Safe Routes to School (SR2S) legislation provided competitive funds for construction projects such as sidewalks, traffic lights, pedestrian crossing improvements, and bicycle paths.
Methods
A cross-sectional evaluation examined the relationship between urban form changes and walking and bicycle travel to school. Surveys were distributed to parents of third- through fifth-grade children at ten schools that had a completed SR2S project nearby. Two groups were created based on whether parents stated that their children would pass the SR2S project on the way to school or not.
Results
Children who passed completed SR2S projects were more likely to show increases in walking or bicycle travel than were children who would not pass by projects (15% vs 4%), based on parents’ responses.
Conclusions
Results support the effectiveness of SR2S construction projects in increasing walking or bicycling to school for children who would pass these projects on their way to school.
Boarnet, M., Day, K., Anderson, C., McMillan, T., & M. Alfonzo. California's Safe Routes to School program: Impacts on walking, bicycling, and pedestrian safety. Journal of the American Planning Association, 71(3), 301–317.
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Abstract
"This article evaluates California's pioneering Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program, which funds traffic improvement projects designed to improve safety for children's walking and bicycling to school and to increase the number of children who do so."
Brecher, C. & Lynam, E. New York’s Endangered Future: Debt Beyond
Our Means. Citizens Budget Commission, September .
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Abstract
New York State has too much debt. Its obligations will require current and future taxpayers to bear a burden that creates a competitive disadvantage with the other states. Not only is the absolute amount of New York's debt high, but the burden is excessive even after the State's relatively large tax base and other relevant factors are taken into account.
The core issue is that New York has no effective legal limits on the amount of debt it can assume. Constitutional provisions intended to limit debt are outdated and are circumvented regularly. Statutory limits - passed in 2000 - are also being circumvented. Simply put, it has become too easy for State leaders to borrow. In addition, they have misused debt, which should be restricted to paying for long-term capital projects, by financing annual operating expenses.
Short-run and long-run measures are needed. In the near term, voters should reject bond referendums such as the Transportation Bond Act of 2005 until debt is brought under control. That act would authorize only $2.9 billion of an additional $13 billion in planned State borrowing, but it is the only opportunity that voters have to express their opposition to excessive borrowing. In the long-run the State must strike a balance between adequate infrastructure investment and a competitive debt burden. The State needs a new constitutional limit that does not require voter approval for every debt issuance, but does impose a binding limit that is linked to ability to pay.
de Cerreño, A.L.C., Goldman, T. & Seaman, M. Assessing New York's Borders Needs. Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the University Transportation Research Center at City College, City University of New York, June 2005.
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Abstract
Kersh, R. Obesity, Courts, and the New Politics of Public Health. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, & Law 2005, Volume 30 Issue 5.
Abstract
Moss, M. The Redevelopment of Lower Manhattan: The Role of the City. The Contentious City: The Politics of Recovery in New York City edited by John Mollenkopf. Sage Foundation, .
Abstract
The attack on the World Trade Center reinforced a process of change in lower Manhattan that had been under way for at least the past fifty years. The public and private responses to the destruction wrought on September 11 have provided the funds, organizational capacity, and public commitment to do what a previous generation of municipal planners tried to accomplish, with only partial success: creating a mixed residential and office community in what was once New York City's dominant financial and business district. Federal aid to rebuild lower Manhattan has been the catalyst for modernizing and expanding its mass transit systems and facilities, providing low-cost financing for converting obsolete office buildings into housing, improving pedestrian movement, investing public funds in parks and cultural institutions, and subsidizing the creation of new public schools. This chapter examines the key public and private organizations that have shaped this redevelopment and the implications for the future of lower Manhattan and for office development in the rest of New York City.
Moss, M. Congestion Pricing. New York Daily News December .
Sander, E.G., Publisher & de Cerreño, A.L.C, Sterman, B.P., (eds). The New York Transportation Journal. Fall 2005, Vol. 9, No. 1.
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Abstract
Schaller, B. Choices at a Critical Junction: New York's Mobility and Highway
Infrastructure Needs for 2005-2010. Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, March .
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Abstract
Simonoff, J.S., Zimmerman, R., Restrepo, C., Dooskin, N.J., Hartwell, R.V., Miller, J.I….& Schuler, R.E. Electricity Case: Statistical Analysis of Electric Power Outages. Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, May .
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Abstract
This report analyses electricity outages over the period January 1990-August 2004. A database was constructed using U.S. data from the DAWG database, which is maintained by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC).
Simonoff, J.S., Restrepo, C., Zimmerman, R. & Remington, W.E. Trends for Oil and Gas Terrorist Attacks. I3P Report No. 2, Hanover, NH: The I3P, November 2005, 63 pp.
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Abstract
Although direct terrorist attacks on the oil and gas sector have not occurred in the United States, there are many recorded attacks on the sector in a large number of countries around the world. The statistical analysis and other evaluations of these data provide an important foundation for identifying case events that can be selected for an in-depth evaluation of the role of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) in the disabling and rate of recovery of the oil and gas system. This report analyzes international terrorist attacks using a database from the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) which includes information about terrorist attacks from all over the world affecting all sectors, including oil and gas. The report looks at annual data for the period 1990-2005 with a special emphasis on attacks occurring in countries with the highest number of attacks during this period. Section 1 provides an introduction to the report. Section 2 looks at the number of incidents, including total incidents over time, attacks on the oil and gas sector as a percentage of total terrorist attacks, and incidents over time by geographical region. In Section 3 the number of fatalities associated with the attacks is examined, along with the fatalities associated with attacks on the oil and gas sector as a percentage of all fatalities associated with terrorist attacks. Section 4 looks at injuries associated with the attacks, and the injuries associated with attacks on the oil and gas sector as a percentage of all injuries associated with terrorist attacks. Section 5 provides a brief discussion about the association between injuries and fatalities. Section 6 contains a discussion of the kinds of components attacked. Finally, Section 7 ends with some concluding remarks. Although the terrorist attacks on the oil and gas sector are a relatively small proportion of terrorist attacks overall, the data show that a significant number of attacks have occurred over the period 1990-2005, suggesting that the sector is vulnerable. If terrorist groups feel that carrying out a physical attack within the United States is too difficult they could turn their attention to other vulnerabilities such as SCADA systems.
Zimmerman, R. Critical Infrastructure and Interdependencies. McGraw Hill Handbook of Homeland Security, David Kamien, ed. New York, NY: McGraw, .
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Abstract
The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook takes a broad view of the challenges involved in enhancing domestic security and emergency preparedness. Our goal is to contribute to the discussion of this national issue and heighten readers' awareness of the importance of integrating policies, strategies, and initiatives across different areas into a cohesive national and international effort.
Zimmerman, R. Mass Transit Infrastructure and Urban Health. Mass Transit Infrastructure and Urban Health, Journal of Urban Health, Vol. 82 (1) 2005, pp. 21-32.
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Abstract
Mass transit is a critical infrastructure of urban environments worldwide. The public uses it extensively, with roughly 9 billion mass transit trips occurring annually in the United States alone according to the U.S. Department of Transportation data. Its benefits per traveler include lower emissions of air pollutants and energy usage and high speeds and safety records relative to many other common modes of transportation that contribute to human health and safety. However, mass transit is vulnerable to intrusions that compromise its use and the realization of the important benefits it brings. These intrusions pertain to physical conditions, security, external environmental conditions, and equity. The state of the physical condition of transit facilities overall has been summarized in the low ratings the American Society of Civil Engineers gives to mass transit, and the large dollar estimates to maintain existing conditions as well as to bring on new improvements, which are, however, many times lower than investments estimated for roadways. Security has become a growing issue, and numerous incidents point to the potential for threats to security in the US. External environmental conditions, such as unexpected inundations of water and electric power outages also make transit vulnerable. Equity issues pose constraints on the use of transit by those who cannot access it. Transit has shown a remarkable ability to rebound after crises, most notably after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, due to a combination of design and operational features of the system. These experiences provide important lessons that must be captured to provide proactive approaches to managing and reducing the consequences of external factors that impinge negatively on transit.
Zimmerman, R., Lave, L.B., Restrepo, C.E., Dooskin, N.J., Hartwell, R.V., Miller, J.I…. & Schuler, R.E.. Electricity Case: Economic Cost Estimation Factors for Economic Assessment of Terrorist Attacks. Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, May .
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Abstract
The major economic effects of electric power outages are usually associated with three potential outcomes: the loss of human life and health; business losses; and declines in property value (some of which are encompassed within business losses). This report sets forth economic factors for quantifying the cost of loss of human life and injuries and business losses (including those to critical infrastructure that supports social and economic activity) as a basis for accounting for the economic outcomes of terrorist attacks. Although they have been developed for estimating effects of attacks on electric power, these factors are broadly applicable to other kinds of attacks involving deaths, injury or business loss. A variety of alternative measures and values are presented to enable users flexibility in how they are applied. This report is intended to accompany the "Electricity Case: Main Report - Risk, Consequences, and Economic Accounting" (May 31, 2005).
Zimmerman, R., Restrepo, C., Dooskin, N.J., Fraissinet, J., Hartwell, R., Miller, J. & Remington, W.E.. Diagnostic Tools to Estimate Consequences of Terrorism Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure. Proceedings of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security conference, Working Together: Research and Development Partnerships in Homeland Security, Boston, MA, .
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Abstract
Diagnosing historical incidents of terrorism events within a risk management framework is an important tool for understanding the likelihood and form of future terrorist attacks and their consequences, particularly for critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure is a key potential terrorism target, and government concerns are reflected in numerous laws and documents on critical infrastructure protection. Given the lack of historical precedent for infrastructure attacks in the U.S., other approaches to estimate consequences of attacks are needed to fill a critical knowledge gap. Using electric power as an example, databases of selected terrorist attacks on electric power infrastructure worldwide are evaluated to infer potential consequences of such attacks against U.S. electric power infrastructure. The focus is on electric power system components that are attacked, and consequences of outages from interdependencies with other infrastructure. In addition to analytical results, this work suggests a framework for a tool for decision-makers.
Zimmerman, R., Restrepo, C.E., Dooskin, N.J., Hartwell, R.V., Miller, J.I., Remington, W.E…. & Schuler, R.E.. Electricity Case: Main Report: Risk, Consequences, and Economic Accounting. Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, May 2005 (Updated June 2005).
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Abstract
As a critical infrastructure sector, electricity enables numerous other critical infrastructures to function, and in many cases is the critical path for their operation. This is underscored by the fact that historically, electric power outages have played a central role in disruptions of many other infrastructures. As a consequence of the centrality of its role, electricity is potentially a key target for terrorist attacks. This case sets forth risks in terms of hypothetical alternative attack scenarios in the form of various grid configurations that are vulnerable based on both natural events in the U.S. and terrorism internationally as well as in terms of the odds that outages will occur and other characteristics of outages will change. Consequences are then identified based on hundreds of events and other records that portray the effects that electric power outages have on key public services and businesses. Economic accounting is conducted in terms of human premature death and injury and business loss for some of the key consequence areas, using a wide range of economic factors.
2004
Coutard, O., R. Hanley & Zimmerman, R., eds. Sustaining Urban Networks: The Social Diffusion of Large Technical Systems. London, UK: Routledge, .
Abstract
Horan, T.A. & Zimmerman, R. Themes and New Directions. Chapter 13 in R. Zimmerman, R. and T.A. Horan, eds. Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. London, UK: Routledge, .
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Abstract
An invisible network of digital technology systems underlies the highly visible networks of roads, waterways, satellites, and power-lines. Increasingly, these systems are becoming the "infrastructure's infrastructure," providing a crucial array of data on network demand, performance, reliability, and security. "Digital Infrastructures" presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the technological systems that envelop these networks. The book balances analyses of specific civil and environmental infrastructures with broader policy and management issues, including the challenges of using IT to manage these critical systems under crises conditions. "Digital Infrastructures" addresses not only the technological dimension but, importantly, how social, organizational and environmental forces affect how IT can be used to manage water, power, transport and telecommunication systems. The book is organized four sections. First, fundamental themes of policy, management, and technology are presented to frame the domain of digital infrastructures. Second, the way in which information technologies are applied in specific infrastructure sectors provides an in-depth assessment of what the advantages and disadvantages have been over time. Third, cross-cutting themes of economics, earth systems engineering, and international sustainability show how various systems perspectives approach some of the barriers to integrating information technology and infrastructure. Finally, the concluding section looks at some of the new directions and challenges being posed by issues such as security. "Digital Infrastructures" is the first integrated treatment of how IT technology is fundamentally affecting how critical infrastructures are managed. It is geared to provide the new infrastructure professional with state of the art concepts, methods, and examples for use in creating public policies, strategic plans, and new systems. It will be an essential book for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in infrastructure management, critical infrastructure, environmental systems management, and management of IT systems.
Light, P.C. Sustaining Nonprofit Performance: The Case for Capacity Building and the Evidence to Support It. Brookings Institution, .
Abstract
Light, P.C. The Spiral of Nonprofit Excellence. Nonprofit Quarterly, Winter, .
Abstract
This article is adapted from a new book by Paul Light entitled Sustaining Nonprofit Performance: The Case for Capacity Building and the Evidence to Support It, published in 2004 by the Brookings Institution Press.
Imagine a nonprofit's life as a journey up and down a development spiral. All organizations would start with a simple idea for some new program or service and then move up the spiral toward greater and greater impact, progressing through five landings, or stops, along the climb: (1) the organic phase of life, in which they struggle to create a presence in their environment; (2) the enterprising phase, in which they seek to expand their size and scope; (3) the intentional phase, in which they become focused more tightly on what they do best; (4) the robust phase, in which they strengthen their organizational infrastructure to hedge against the unexpected; and (5) the reflective phase, in which they address longer-term issues of succession and legacy.
Moss, M. & Townsend, A. Telecommunications: Catastrophe and Recovery in the Information City. in Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. London, UK: Routledge, .
Abstract
An invisible network of digital technology systems underlies the highly visible networks of roads, waterways, satellites, and power-lines. Increasingly, these systems are becoming the "infrastructure's infrastructure," providing a crucial array of data on network demand, performance, reliability, and security. Digital Infrastructures presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the technological systems that envelop these networks. The book balances analyses of specific civil and environmental infrastructures with broader policy and management issues, including the challenges of using IT to manage these critical systems under crises conditions.
Digital Infrastructures addresses not only the technological dimension but, importantly, how social, organizational and environmental forces affect how IT can be used to manage water, power, transport and telecommunication systems. The book is organized four sections. First, fundamental themes of policy, management, and technology are presented to frame the domain of digital infrastructures. Second, the way in which information technologies are applied in specific infrastructure sectors provides an in-depth assessment of what the advantages and disadvantages have been over time. Third, cross-cutting themes of economics, earth systems engineering, and international sustainability show how various systems perspectives approach some of the barriers to integrating information technology and infrastructure. Finally, the concluding section looks at some of the new directions and challenges being posed by issues such as security.
Digital Infrastructures is the first integrated treatment of how IT technology is fundamentally affecting how critical infrastructures are managed. It is geared to provide the new infrastructure professional with state of the art concepts, methods, and examples for use in creating public policies, strategic plans, and new systems. It will be an essential book for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in infrastructure management, critical infrastructure, environmental systems management, and management of IT systems.
Restrepo, C., Zimmerman, R., Thurston, G., Clemente, J., Gorczynski, J., Zhong, M., Blaustin, M. & Chen, L.C. A Comparison of Ground-Level Air Quality Data with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Monitoring Stations Data in South Bronx, New York. Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 38, pp. 5295-5304.
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Abstract
The South Bronx is a low-income, minority community in New York City. It has one of the highest asthma rates in
the country, which community residents feel is related to poor air quality. Community residents also feel that the air quality data provided by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) through its network
of monitoring stations do not reflect the poor quality of the air they breathe. This is due to the fact that these
monitoring stations are located 15m above ground. In the year 2001 this project collected air quality data at three
locations in the study area. They were collected close to ground-level at a height of 4m by a mobile laboratory placed in a van as part of the South Bronx Environmental Health and Policy Study. This paper compares data collected by the project with data from DEC's monitoring stations in Bronx County during the same periods. The goal of the comparison is to gain a better understanding of differences in measured air quality concentrations at these different heights. Although there is good agreement in the data among DEC stations there are some important differences between ground-level measurements and DEC data. For PM2.5 the measured concentrations by the van were similar to those recorded by DEC stations. In the case of ozone, the concentrations recorded at ground level were similar or lower than those recorded by DEC stations. For NO2, however, the concentrations recorded at ground level were over twice as high as those recorded by DEC. In the case of SO2, ground level measurements were substantially higher in August but very similar in the other two periods. CO concentrations measured at ground-level tend to be 60-90% higher than those recorded by DEC monitoring stations. Despite these differences, van measurements of SO2 and CO concentrations were well below EPA standards.
Seaman, M., de Cerreño, A.L.C & English-Young, S. From Rescue to Renaissance: The Achievements of the MTA Capital Program 1982 - 2004. Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the University Transportation Research Center at City College, City University of New York, December 2004.
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Abstract
Seaman, Mark, Todd Goldman, and
Allison L. C. de Cerreño Assessing New York's Border Needs. December 2004 A joint effort with the University Transportation Research Center & the Rudin Center for Transportation and Policy Management.
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Abstract
Canada is the United State's strongest trading partner, exceeding trade with Mexico and with the European Union. On land, this trade flows through 22 principal border crossings between the United States and Canada, with 90% of the value and three-quarters of the tonnage and truck trips originating in or destined for locations beyond the border states. Three of the six crossings are in New York State. However, up to one-half of the trips originate in or are destined for locations beyond the border states. Thus, while they generate economic value nationally, the burdens they bring are concentrated in border states. Recognizing the significance of the border states and the need for transportation corridors throughout the country to facilitate the projected growth in trade, Congress established the Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program and the National Corridor Planning and Development Program in 1998. However, these programs have fallen short of their goals, principally as a result of under-funding and earmarking. If the current funding levels and practices of the Borders and Corridors Program continue, there is concern that freight volume at the key crossings in New York will continue to grow without the ability to effectively and efficiently service it. This study assesses the implications for New York State and for the country if New York's border and corridor needs are unmet.
Sparrow, R. Management Challenges. (with Thomas Horan), in Zimmerman, Rae and Horan, T., eds., Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. London, UK: Routledge, .
Abstract
An invisible network of digital technology systems underlies the highly visible networks of roads, waterways, satellites, and power-lines. Increasingly, these systems are becoming the ''infrastructure's infrastructure'' providing a crucial array of data on network demand, performance, reliability, and security. Digital Infrastructures presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the technological systems that envelop these networks. The book balances analyses of specific civil and environmental infrastructures with broader policy and management issues, including the challenges of using IT to manage these critical systems under crises conditions.
Digital Infrastructures addresses not only the technological dimension but, importantly, how social, organizational and environmental forces affect how IT can be used to manage water, power, transport and telecommunication systems. The book is organized four sections. First, fundamental themes of policy, management, and technology are presented to frame the domain of digital infrastructures. Second, the way in which information technologies are applied in specific infrastructure sectors provides an in-depth assessment of what the advantages and disadvantages have been over time. Third, cross-cutting themes of economics, earth systems engineering, and international sustainability show how various systems perspectives approach some of the barriers to integrating information technology and infrastructure. Finally, the concluding section looks at some of the new directions and challenges being posed by issues such as security.
Digital Infrastructures is the first integrated treatment of how IT technology is fundamentally affecting how critical infrastructures are managed. It is geared to provide the new infrastructure professional with state of the art concepts, methods, and examples for use in creating public policies, strategic plans, and new systems. It will be an essential book for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in infrastructure management, critical infrastructure, environmental systems management, and management of IT systems.
Zimmerman, R. Social and Environmental Dimensions of Cutting-Edge Infrastructures. in Moving People, Goods and Information in the 21st Century, edited by R. Hanley. UK: Routledge, pages 181-202.
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Abstract
Globalization and technological innovation have changed the way people, goods, and information move through and about cities. To remain, or become, economically and environmentally sustainable, cities and their regions must adapt to these changes by creating cutting-edge infrastructures that integrate advanced technologies, communications, and multiple modes of transportation.
The book defines cutting-edge infrastructures, details their importance to cities and their regions, and addresses the obstacles - technical, jurisdictional, financial, and social - to creating those infrastructures. Additionally, it explores issues behind the creation of new infrastructures: their integrated, technical components, the decision making involved in their creation, and the equity and environmental questions they raise.
Zimmerman, R. Decision-Making and the Vulnerability of Critical Infrastructure. Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, .
Zimmerman, R. Water. Chapter 5 in R. Zimmerman, R. and T.A. Horan, eds.Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. London, UK: Routledge, .
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Abstract
An invisible network of digital technology systems underlies the highly visible networks of roads, waterways, satellites, and power-lines. Increasingly, these systems are becoming the "infrastructure's infrastructure," providing a crucial array of data on network demand, performance, reliability, and security. "Digital Infrastructures" presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the technological systems that envelop these networks. The book balances analyses of specific civil and environmental infrastructures with broader policy and management issues, including the challenges of using IT to manage these critical systems under crises conditions. "Digital Infrastructures" addresses not only the technological dimension but, importantly, how social, organizational and environmental forces affect how IT can be used to manage water, power, transport and telecommunication systems. The book is organized four sections. First, fundamental themes of policy, management, and technology are presented to frame the domain of digital infrastructures. Second, the way in which information technologies are applied in specific infrastructure sectors provides an in-depth assessment of what the advantages and disadvantages have been over time. Third, cross-cutting themes of economics, earth systems engineering, and international sustainability show how various systems perspectives approach some of the barriers to integrating information technology and infrastructure. Finally, the concluding section looks at some of the new directions and challenges being posed by issues such as security. "Digital Infrastructures" is the first integrated treatment of how IT technology is fundamentally affecting how critical infrastructures are managed. It is geared to provide the new infrastructure professional with state of the art concepts, methods, and examples for use in creating public policies, strategic plans, and new systems. It will be an essential book for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in infrastructure management, critical infrastructure, environmental systems management, and management of IT systems.
Zimmerman, R. What are Digital Infrastructures? Chapter 1 in R. Zimmerman, R. and T.A. Horan, eds. Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. London, UK: Routledge, .
Abstract
Zimmerman, R. & Horan, T.A. Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. Zimmerman, R. and T.A. Horan, eds. Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. London, UK: Routledge, .
Abstract
An invisible network of digital technology systems underlies the highly visible networks of roads, waterways, satellites, and power-lines. Increasingly, these systems are becoming the "infrastructure's infrastructure," providing a crucial array of data on network demand, performance, reliability, and security. "Digital Infrastructures" presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the technological systems that envelop these networks. The book balances analyses of specific civil and environmental infrastructures with broader policy and management issues, including the challenges of using IT to manage these critical systems under crises conditions. "Digital Infrastructures" addresses not only the technological dimension but, importantly, how social, organizational and environmental forces affect how IT can be used to manage water, power, transport and telecommunication systems. The book is organized four sections. First, fundamental themes of policy, management, and technology are presented to frame the domain of digital infrastructures. Second, the way in which information technologies are applied in specific infrastructure sectors provides an in-depth assessment of what the advantages and disadvantages have been over time. Third, cross-cutting themes of economics, earth systems engineering, and international sustainability show how various systems perspectives approach some of the barriers to integrating information technology and infrastructure. Finally, the concluding section looks at some of the new directions and challenges being posed by issues such as security. "Digital Infrastructures" is the first integrated treatment of how IT technology is fundamentally affecting how critical infrastructures are managed. It is geared to provide the new infrastructure professional with state of the art concepts, methods, and examples for use in creating public policies, strategic plans, and new systems. It will be an essential book for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in infrastructure management, critical infrastructure, environmental systems management, and management of IT systems.
Zimmerman, R. & Horan, T.A.. A Conceptual Framework. Chapter 1 in R. Zimmerman, R. and T.A. Horan, eds. Digital Infrastructures: Enabling Civil and Environmental Systems through Information Technology. London, UK: Routledge, .
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Abstract
In a world that continues to increase in size and complexity, the dependence on information technologies (IT) that drive our life support systems is growing rapidly. Few other technologies have spread as rapidly. This book addresses the pervasive influence that IT has had on infrastructure, namely transportation, water supply and wastewater management, energy, and telecommunications, and its users. This is especially timely in light of the growing need for critical policy, management and technological choices about the reliability and security of IT and infrastructure systems, and in particular what was deemed critical infrastructure by the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection in 1997 (US Department of Commerce, Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office 1997) and again in 2003 by the White House (White House 2003).
2003
Fritzen, Scott. Donors, local development groups and institutional reform over Vietnam's development decade. in Kerkvliet, B.J., Heng, R.H.K. and Hock, D.K.W. (eds.), Getting organized in Vietnam: Moving in and around the socialist state, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 234-270.
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Abstract
International donors have attempted to contribute to, and indeed influence, the overall tenor of socioeconomic and governance-related reforms in Vietnam. They have done so in a number of ways: directly supporting policy research, stablishing forums for debate of developmental issues with government counterparts, funding projects on administrative and judiciary reform and central level capacity building, and providing direct financial and sometimes indirect support for ‘indigenous’ NGOs, primarily development service organizations working as contractors for particular development projects. This paper examines another modality through which donors sought to influence administrative reform over the heady ‘development decade’ of the 1990s – donor support for rural development projects conceived as ‘policy experiments’ (Rondinelli 1983). Though diverse in sectoral focus, these projects commonly attempted to introduce local institutional arrangements promoting greater responsiveness and accountability of local governments to rural communities as a whole, or to particular sub-groups such as smallholder farmers. To do so, local organizations or grassroots groups were typically established as new ways of organizing the rural populace to demand, plan for, access or provide services underpinning rural development and poverty alleviation. “Local development groups” (LDGs) is the name I give to groups comprised of farmers and other end-users of project services (or representatives they choose) that were formed in the process of implementing particular development projects. This paper probes the experience of these development projects and LDGs over approximately the last ten years. It depicts how projects funded by a wide range of donors became an important part of the institutional landscape in many areas of Vietnam, leaving a significant mark on many sectors related to rural development. Five sections follow this introduction. The first examines how changing donor roles interacted with institutional developments to produce an opportunity for projects to influence policy. Section two presents a theoretical framework with which to assess LDGs and the policy experiments in which they were embedded, which section three applies the framework to a sample of 15 donor projects operational over the 1990s in Vietnam. Section four presents more qualitative detail on a few of the higher-impact projects. The final section concludes with implications for donors and the study of local institutional change in Vietnam.
Moss, M. Response, Restoration and Recovery: September 11 and New York City's Digital Networks. in A. Micahel Noll ed., Crisis Communications, Allen and Littlefield, .
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Abstract
This chapter examines the role of digital communications networks during and after the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. Digital networks in New York City played a vital role in all three phases of this catastrophe: initial response, interim restoration, and long-term recovery. Mitchell L Moss and Anthony Townsend conclude that during each of these phases, the digital network infrastructure, while the most fragile of all urban networks, demonstrated remarkable resiliency in serving the citizens of the city and the nation.
Rodwin, V.G. Vieillir Dans Quatre Mégapoles: New-York, Londres, Paris et Tokyo. Etudes et Resultats, N 260, September .
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Abstract
Les villes de New York, Londres, Paris et Tokyo concentrent une part majeure de l'activité et de la richesse de leurs nations. Elles connaissent une forte densité de population, et notamment de personnes âgées. Elles disposent en outre d'un potentiel en équipement, réseaux et infrastructures de soins médicaux très important par rapport aux autres agglomérations.
Examiner le vieillissement de leur population et comparer les systèmes de santé et de soins dans ces quatre mégapoles est l'objet d'un programme de recherche international, qui vise à s'interroger sur les adaptations des systèmes sanitaires et sociaux à la longévité croissante de la population.
C'est parmi les quatre villes Tokyo qui présente la densité la plus élevée de personnes âgées de 65 ans et plus, mais Paris celle de personnes très âgées (85 ans et plus).
À Tokyo, les personnes âgées vivent également moins souvent seules que dans les autres mégapoles, les centres urbains de Manhattan, Paris et Londres concentrant en particulier une forte proportion de femmes très âgées et vivant seules.
Si ces quatre villes ont un équipement médical et hospitalier plus important en centre urbain qu'en périphérie, la densité en lits médicalisés et de long séjour apparaît inférieure à Londres et à Tokyo.
Les services d'aide à domicile, plus denses dans les centres urbains, sont plus difficiles à comparer mais semblent légèrement mieux assurés dans le centre de Londres.
Sparrow, R. Emerging New Paradigms: A Guide to Fundamental Change in Local Public Transportation Organizations. Final Report (TCRP Project J-8B). With Robert Stanley (Cambridge Systematics, Inc.), Matthew A. Coogan, Michael P. Bolton, and Sara Campbell. Prepared for Transportation Research Board, Transit Cooperative Research Program, March .
Abstract
Zimmerman, R. Global Climate Change and Transportation Infrastructure: Lessons from the New York Area. in The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Transportation: Workshop Summary and Proceedings, U.S. DOT (Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting) in cooperation with the U.S. EPA, U.S. DOE, U.S.GCRP. .
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Abstract
Global climate change (GCC) is now well known, and its impacts are a stark reality. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), changes in global climate in the 20th century, whether from human or natural causes, are already reflected in numerous indicators for atmospheric chemistry, weather, biological, physical and economic conditions, and members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working groups have rated the probability of those changes as either actually occurring or at least likely to occur. The estimated impacts of these changes under varying scenarios are in many cases pronounced, and the ability to cope with these impacts varies considerably depending upon the capacity of individuals, groups and institutions to adapt.
Zimmerman, R. Public Infrastructure Service Flexibility for Response and Recovery in the September 11th, 2001 Attacks at the World Trade Center. in Natural Hazards Research & Applications Information Center, Public Entity Risk Institute, and Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, Beyond September 11th: An Account of Post-Disaster Research. Special Publication #39. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado, Pp. 241-268.
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Abstract
After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, the ability to rapidly restore transportation, power, water, and environmental services to users was absolutely critical, especially to those involved in the immediate search, rescue, and recovery operations. What better way could infrastructure serve its users-both emergency workers and the general public-than to be able to respond quickly in a crisis? The ability to provide these services required a degree of flexibility, often unanticipated and unplanned, that only became apparent as the response efforts unfolded. The capability of basic infrastructure service providers to respond to public needs for transportation, energy, communication, water, sanitation, and solid waste removal after the September 11th attacks was to a great extent influenced by the flexibility of the initial infrastructure design and management functions to respond to normal system disruptions and to extreme, but not necessarily terrorist-related, events.
Zimmerman, R. The Collapse of the World Trade Center: Learning from Urban Disasters. (with C. Restrepo, doctoral candidate at NYU Wagner), in Natural Hazards Research & Applications Information Center, Public Entity Risk Institute, and Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, Beyond September 11th: An Account of Post-Disaster Research. Special Publication #39. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado, pp. 49-80.
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Abstract
The collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, was one of the worst urban disasters in the history of the United States. Almost 3,000 people perished as a result of the disaster. The economy was dealt a severe blow, the consequences of which are still felt today. When the World Trade Center was first built, its approximately 1.25 million square meters of office space accommodated about 40-50,000 people (Extreme Events Mitigation Task Force, 2002, p. 52). The number of telephone lines installed in the towers was similar to that found in cities such as Cincinnati or Copenhagen1. The collapse of the World Trade Center raised a large number of research questions related to understanding what happened on that day,
why the buildings collapsed, how agencies and individuals responded to the event, how civil infrastructure systems were affected, and how the lessons learned can be used to prevent similar disasters from happening.
Zimmerman, R. Natural Hazards Research & Applications Information
. Center, Public Entity Risk Institute, and Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, Beyond September 11th: An Account of Post-Disaster Research. Special Publication #39. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado. ISBN 1877943169.
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Abstract
2002
Rodwin, V.G. & Gusmano, M.K. The World Cities Project: Rationale, Organization, and Design for Comparison of Megacity Health Systems. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, vol. 79, no. 4, December .
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Abstract
Zimmerman, R, Gilbertson, N. & Restrepo, C.. Bringing Information Technology to Infrastructure. A Workshop to Develop a Research Agenda, June 25 - 27, Arlington, VA.
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Abstract
Over the last decade, the development and operation of conventional infrastructure, such as transportation, water and power systems, has increasingly become dependent on information technologies (IT). Due to the rapid rate of advances in IT, especially compared to the rate of
infrastructure advances, the examination of its impacts and potential benefits for other infrastructure have not been fully examined or understood. Civil infrastructure research and IT research have largely advanced along separate paths, and although the connections and interdependencies are more apparent now than ever, no comprehensive agenda for merging these research areas exists. This is the context in which the idea for a National Science Foundation funded workshop emerged. The Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems (ICIS) at New York University organized and led, "Bringing Information Technology to Infrastructure: A Workshop to Develop a Research Agenda," as a starting place to identify research that would bring IT and infrastructure research closer together.
Zimmerman, R. Social Implications of Infrastructure Network Interactions. Journal of Urban Technology, Vol. 8, No. 3 (December 2001), pp. 97-119. Also published in Flux Cahiers scientifiques internationaux Reseaux et Territoires (International Scientific Quarterly on Networks and Territories), Number 47, Janvier-Mars .
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Abstract
Urbanized and soon-to-be urbanizing areas are increasingly dependent upon infrastructure transmission and distribution networks for the provision of essential public resources and services for transportation, energy, communications, water supply, and wastewater collection and treatment. In large part, the increasing spread of population settlements at the periphery of cities and the increasing density and vertical integration of urban cores have increased reliance upon the connectivity that these networks provide. These infrastructure networks are, in turn, dependent upon one another, both functionally and spatially, in very complex ways, and that interdependence is increased as new capacity-enhancing infrastructure technologies are developed. The extent of these dependencies appears to be escalating, and that results in interactions among the systems and produces effects upon environments that are difficult to predict.
Zimmerman, R., Restrepo, C., Hirschstein, C., HolguÃn-Veras, J., Lara, J. & Klebenov, D.. South Bronx Environmental Health and Policy Study, Public Health and Environmental Policy Analysis: Final Report for Phase I. New York, NY: New York University, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, .
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Abstract
The quality of the environment in communities with large minority populations has been a growing concern particularly with respect to public health given the potential for greater
exposure among minorities and the lower availability of health services to address such exposures. A public health and environmental policy analysis is being conducted by the Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems (ICIS) at New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (NYU-Wagner) to address some of these issues in the South Bronx. The Wagner School study is part of a larger project funded by the U.S. EPA about environmental issues in the
South Bronx, NY that aims to provide relationships among air quality, transportation, waste transfer activity, and demographic characteristics in the South Bronx.
2001
de Cerreño, A.L.C. Maintaining Solid Foundations for High-Tech Growth: Transportation and Communications Infrastructure in the Tri-State Region. NYAS, July .
Fritzen, Scott, Stanely J. Final Evaluation: The Rural Infrastructure Development Program. UNDP and UNCDF.
Sparrow, R. The Evolving Knowledge and Skill Requirements of America's Civil Infrastructure Managers. Public Works Management & Policy (April 2001).
Abstract
Sparrow, R. Institutional Change. Report of the National Conference on Infrastructure Research Priorities, Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, December .
Sparrow, R. & Gilbertson, N. The Green Line: A Community Connects to its Infrastructure. Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, September .
von Winterfeldt, D. & Zimmerman, R. Performance Measurement for Managing Infrastructure Assets. S.B. Chase, A.E. Aktan, eds., Health Monitoring and Management of Civil Infrastructure Systems, Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 4337, pp. 28-36.
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Abstract
Performance measures are central to managing infrastructure assets, since they provide quantitative benchmarks and express values and preferences that are important for decision making. For example, one performance measure for decisions on upgrading an electrical power line is the improvement in service reliability, measured in terms of annual customer interruption hours. This paper first presents an overall framework for developing performance measures for infrastructure decision-making. The framework is then illustrated with an example that involves a decision of whether or not to place overhead power lines underground in order to improve performance measured as service reliability, health and safety, operation and maintenance cost, and impacts on property values.
Zimmerman, R. & Cusker, M.. Institutional Decision-Making. Chapter 9 and Appendix 10 in Climate Change and a Global City: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change. Metro East Coast, edited by C. Rosenzweig and W. D. Solecki. New York, NY: Columbia Earth Institute and Goddard Institute.
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Abstract
The international scientific community has begun to focus upon the reality of global climate change and sophisticated research techniques provide increasingly accurate models of the potential impacts of associated weather extremes, disease outbreaks, and global and local environmental destruction. Yet decision-making institutions have not, for the most part, incorporated global climate change in their policies and planning efforts. This report presents the implications of climate change, thus far considered largely in a global context, in very local terms. As research and discussion of climate change begin to focus on anticipated regional impacts, decision-makers in the Metropolitan East Coast (MEC) Region and elsewhere should begin to consider and implement practical adaptation policies affecting land use, infrastructure, natural resource management, public health, and emergency and disaster response.
Zimmerman, R. & Cusker, M.. Bringing Information Technology to Infrastructure: A White Paper for a Research Agenda. A White Paper, .
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Abstract
The dramatic growth in the development and use of information technology (IT) has had an untold impact upon the nature and performance of the fundamental infrastructure systems that support our economy and social environment. The use of IT is no doubt already pervasive in these infrastructure systems from design and planning through operations and maintenance. IT has the potential to address many of the quality issues that infrastructure has faced, by providing detection capability for infrastructure condition, coordination of complex operations, and integration of multi-modal and multi-locational facilities to provide seamless services to consumers. Still to be understood are not only the opportunities IT provides (for example, in terms of improved performance) but also the barriers to its use (for example, in terms of IT and infrastructure compatibility). Moreover, little is known about how IT influences infrastructure and the social systems it supports. This white paper provides a background for the development of a research agenda that addresses both interrelationships between IT and infrastructure and its impacts ranging from infrastructure operations to social systems.
2000
Ellen, I.G. & Schwartz, A.E. No Easy Answers. Brookings Review, Summer 2000, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p44, 4p.
Abstract
Discusses the strategies applied to foster economic growth among cities in the United States. Measurement of the impact of economic development programs; Effectiveness of infrastructure investments to boost economic growth; Impact of tax cuts on economy; Development of sports stadiums and arenas.
Fox, J. & Gershman, J. The World Bank and Social Capital: Lessons from Ten Rural Development Projects in the Philippines and Mexico. Policy Sciences, Vol. 33 Issue 3/4, p399-419, 21p.
Abstract
Compares rural development projects funded by the World Bank in the Philippines and Mexico. Impact of the World Bank on social capital; Indicators of institutional preconditions for informed public participation; Ethnic and gender dimensions of social capital.
Moss, M. L. & Townsend, A. The Internet Backbone and the American Metropolis. Information Society, Jan-March, Vol. 16 Issue 1, p35-47, 13p.
Abstract
Despite the rapid growth of advanced telecommunications services, there is a lack of knowledge about the geographic diffusion of these new technologies. The Internet presents an important challenge to communications researchers, as it threatens to redefine the production and delivery of vital services including finance, retailing, and education. This article seeks to address the gap in the current literature by analyzing the development of Internet backbone networks in the United States between 1997 and 1999. We focus upon the intermetropolitan links that have provided transcontinental data transport services since the demise of the federally subsidized networks deployed in the 1970s and 1980s. We find that a select group of seven highly interconnected metropolitan areas consistently dominated the geography of national data networks, despite massive investment in this infrastructure over the study period. Furthermore, while prosperous and internationally oriented American cities lead the nation in adopting and deploying Internet technologies, interior regions and economically distressed cities have failed to keep up. As information-based industries and services account for an increasing share of economic activity, this evidence suggests that the Internet may aggravate the economic disparities among regions, rather than level them. Although the capacity of the backbone system has slowly diffused throughout the metropolitan system, the geographic structure of interconnecting links has changed little. Finally, the continued persistence of the metropolis as the center for telecommunications networks illustrates the need for a more sophisticated understanding of the interaction between societies and technological innovations.
1999
Smoke, P. Improving Infrastructure Finance Through Grant-Loan Linkages. International Journal of Public Administration, Volume 22, No. 23.
Abstract
In recent years, developing countries under fiscal pressure have increasing recognized significant weaknesses in their intergovernmental mechanisms for financing local infrastructure. Many countries are in the process of rationalizing poorly coordinated and subjectively allocated grant systems as well as loans. Such efforts, however, are typically undertaken independently of each other, often providing conflicting incentives for local fiscal behavior. I argue that the reform of grant and loan mechanisms should be explicitly linked to improve the overall effectiveness of the infrastructure finance system. The potential complications involved in designing grant-loan linkages, however, are considerable. I illustrate some key issues by examining the water sector in Indonesia, concluding with suggestions for how to think about creating such linkages in other sectors and countries.
1998
Jacob, K. & Zimmerman, R. Issues of Climate Change and Its Impacts on the Infrastructure in the Metro East Coast (MEC) Region of the US. Report of the MEC Infrastructure Working Group, Columbia University, March .
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Abstract
The infrastructure of the Metro East Coast region (MEC, with New York City at its core) is the largest, oldest, densest, and busiest in the nation. It serves some 20 million people and built assets exceed $1 trillion. Currently there is considerable stress on the system with key problems identified as: undercapacity, underinvestment, inconsistent management suburban sprawl, and lack of long-term integrated region-wide planning. These problems are exacerbated by fragmentation of governance across competing jurisdictions. Unclear funding mechanisms, spotty economic performance, and deferred infrastructure maintenance are severe stress factors. Spatial and functional inter-connectedness between different types of infrastructure allows failures to cascade through the system - at times even shutting down substantial segments, all at a high societal cost. A special problem is lack of a farsighted solid waste management strategy. Despite these severe stresses, the system somehow manages to deliver essential services to a large population.
Rodriguez-Garcia, R., Macinko, J. & Casas, J. (Eds.) From Humanitarian Assistance to Human Development. Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization/WHO. .
Abstract
Zimmerman, R. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Safety and Risk in Urban Infrastructure Systems. Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management, edited by A. Mosleh and R.A. Bari. London: Springer-Verlag, Vol. 4, pp. 2553-2558.
1997
Fritzen, Scott. Benefit-cost analysis of the Hoang Dinh Sea Dyke Reconstruction Project. Oxfam Great Britain, Vietnam.
Moss, M. L. Reinventing the Central City as a Place to Live and Work. Housing Policy Debate, Vol. 8, Issue 2.
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Abstract
Public policies for urban development have traditionally emphasized investment in physical infrastructure, the development of large-scale commercial facilities, the construction of new housing, and the renewal of existing neighborhoods. Most efforts to revitalize central cities by building new facilities for visitors have focused on suburban commuters and tourists. At the same time, many housing initiatives in central cities have concentrated on low-income communities because outlying suburban areas have attracted traditional middle-income households.
This article argues that emerging demographic and cultural trends - combined with changes in the structure of business organizations and technological advances - provide new opportunities for cities to retain and attract middle-class households. Using gay and lesbian populations as an example, it focuses on the role that nontraditional households can play in urban redevelopment. In light of the rise of nontraditional households and the growth of self-employment and small businesses, cities should adopt policies that make them attractive places in which to live and work.
Sparrow, R. Dal Caso Americano al Caso Italiano. in Giorgio Vittadini, ed., Il Nonprofit Dimezzato (Milan: Etaslibri).
Zimmerman, R., et al. Final Report Based on the Workshop on Integrated Research for Civil Infrastructure. New York, NY: New York University, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, February .
Abstract
The nation continues to experience major problems in the performance of its infrastructure in spite of the considerable investment of resources to expand capacity, increase accessibility, and exploit innovative technologies for infrastructure improvement. Some problems can be solved with incremental changes that retain the current specialized and categorical organization of infrastructure endeavors. Others, however, require a broad, sweeping, interdisciplinary perspective. Problems in this latter group may require the interaction of the sciences with engineering to address a materials problem, to identify statistical trends in performance, or to understand the environmental impacts of the design, construction or operation of a facility.
1996
Brecher, C. et al. Budget 2000 Project (7 volumes). Citizens Budget Commission, December .
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Abstract
The Budget 2000 Project recommends actions that will reduce the cost of government in New York by between $12.8 and $19.7 billion, amounts large enough not only to balance the budgets of the Two New Yorks, shift the local government costs of public assistance and Medicaid to the State, and fund salary increases for workers who assist in the restructuring, but still leave at least $9.3 billion to improve New York's competitiveness by investing in the infrastructure, enhancing services and cutting taxes.
Schwartz, A.E. & Morrison, C. State Infrastructure and Productive Performance. American Economic Review, December 1996, Vol. 86, No. 5, pp 1095-1111.
Abstract
Recent research on productivity growth has focused on public infrastructure and its impact on economic growth and productivity. We construct a model of firms' technology and behavior, taking advantage of the analytical framework provided in the cost-function-based applied production-theory literature, and apply it to state-level data for U.S. manufacturing. We find that infrastructure investment provides a significant return to manufacturing firms and augments productivity growth. The net benefits of infrastructure investment may or may not be positive, depending upon the social costs of infrastructure investment and the relative growth rates of output and infrastructure.
Schwartz, A.E. & Morrison, C. Public Infrastructure, Private Input Demand and Economic Performance in New England Manufacturing. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Vol. 14, No. 1, Jan, pp 91-102.
Abstract
Much of the current debate on the economic performance impacts of public infrastructure investment relates to the input-specific effects of such investment. In this article we explore these impacts by evaluating substitution patterns affecting private input use in New England manufacturing. Using a cost-based methodology, we find that, in the short run, public capital expenditures provide cost-saving benefits that exceed the associated investment costs due to substitutability between public capital and private inputs. Over time, however, stimulating investment in private capital increases economic performance more effectively than public capital expenditures alone and in fact reduces the cost incentive for such expenditures. In addition, growth in output motivated by infrastructure investment increases employment opportunities because this growth overrides short-run substitutability.
Sparrow, R. Vantaggi e Limiti del Nonprofit. Persone e Impresse: Quadrimestrale di Cultura Economica ed Imprenditoriale (Turin: No. 3).
Zimmerman, R. Global Warming, Infrastructure, and Land Use in the Metropolitan New York Area: Prevention and Response. The Baked Apple? Metropolitan New York in the Greenhouse, edited by Douglas Hill. New York: New York Academy of Sciences. Pp. 57-83.
Abstract
This paper focuses on infrastructure's vulnerability to sea level change associated with global warming. It also addresses the degree to which that infrastructure can be altered to decrease its vulnerability and the vulnerability of the land surrounding it. It centers on the metropolitan New York City area (which includes portions of New Jersey and Connecticut), that is surrounded by an extensive shoreline subject to the risks of global warming.
1995
Holtz-Eakin, D. & Schwartz, A.E. Infrastructure in a structural model of economic growth. Regional Science & Urban Economics, April, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p131, 21p.
Abstract
Proposes a neoclassical economic growth model to show the connection between infrastructure and productivity growth. Model as a framework for analyzing the empirical importance of public capital accumulation to productivity growth in the United States between 1971 and 1986; Characteristics of the growth path toward the steady state; Econometric implications.
Schwartz, A.E. & Holtz-Eakin, D. The Interstate Spatial Productivity Spillovers from Public Infrastructure: Evidence from State Highways. International Tax and Public Finance, Vol. 2, No. 3, November 1995, pp 259-268.
Zimmerman, R. Integrating Environmental Justice (EJ) Methodologies into Environmental Impact Assessment. Environmental Challenges: The Next 20 Years, National Association of Environmental Professionals 20th Annual Conference Proceedings. Washington, D.C.: NAEP.
Zimmerman, R. Final Report for the NY Statewide Transportation Master Plan/ Early Outreach Session Reports. Prepared for the NYS Department of Transportation. January .
Zimmerman, R. & Lichtenberg, E. Farm Operator Perceptions of Water Quality Protective Pest Management Practices: Selected Survey Findings. Environmental Challenges: The Next 20 Years, National Association of Environmental Professionals 20th Annual Conference Proceedings. Washington, D.C.: NAEP. Pp. 780-785.
Zimmerman, R., et al. Meta-analysis in Environmental Epidemiology. Risk Science Institute of the International Life Sciences Institute, Washington, D.C., January .
1985
Zimmerman, R. The Relationship of Emergency Management to Governmental Policies on Man-Made Technological Disasters. Public Administration Review, Jan 1985, Vol. 45 Issue Special, p29-39, 11p.
Abstract
Examines the relationship between emergency management and governmental policies on technological disasters. Exploration of whether or not disasters exist from man-made technologies involving hazardous materials and what mechanisms are currently in place to cope with such emergencies; Review of incidents involving environmental contamination; Regulations in place to deal with contaminations; Conclusion that laws have become powerful tools for detecting and mitigating against environmental problems.
1982
Zimmerman, R. T. Formation of New Organizations to Manage Risk
. Policy Studies Review, 1982, Vol. 1 Issue 4, p736-747, 12p.
Abstract
Examines ways in which organizations adapt to changing risk assessments in the U.S. through the development of organizational forms during times of crisis. Emergence of institutional conflict in setting risk standards; Organization adaptation to high risk environments; Patterns for the formation of organizations; Differences and conflicts among administrative agencies involved in risk management.
1975
Zimmerman, R. A Variant of the Shift and Share Projection Formulation. Journal of Regional Science, April 1975, Vol. 15, Issue 1, p29-39, 10p.
Abstract
Examines variance of the shift and share projection formulation. Use of the shift share method in explaining historical trends in regional employment; Examination of the predictive power of the variant against the standard formulation; Evaluation of alternative projection methods for industries grouped into local market and supply-oriented categories.
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