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Foreword
There are some moments in history that make the world totally different, that change our understanding of time into before and after. 9/11 wassuch an event, not only for the United States but for the entire world. This
book is about what happened in and around the World Trade Center andLower Manhattan after the attacks on 9/11 and the collapse of the Twin
Towers. This book is not about terrorism. It covers only the World Trade
Center disaster, not the events at the Pentagon or United flight 93.
In my experience studying disasters of all kinds, in all regions of theworld, it can be difficult for contemporaries to understand the true meaning of the event because they are part of it. However, this difficulty must
be overcome because it is both a privilege and responsibility of contemporaries to provide a firsthand account about the incident based on theirdirect experience. The account provided by contemporaries should be
logical and rational and provide the big picture of what happened. It also
should focus on those elements that might be recurrent, as lessons learned
from the event. In the reconstruction of the big picture of the event, it isindispensable to piece together many individual perspectives – like a collage by the artist David Hockney. It requires a great amount of work toreconstruct what happened in a coherent way. This is what Dave Mammen has accomplished in this book as a keen and impartial observer.
I have come back to Ground Zero every year since 9/11 with my colleagues and our students to monitor the progress of recovery efforts. During these ten years, reconstruction at the World Trade Center site has
appeared slow. It has been difficult for outside visitors to understandwhat was going on in and around the World Trade Center unless Dave
Mammen briefed us about the process and invisible progress each year.
Through his lectures, we learned so many different aspects of this complicated recovery process such as urban search and rescue, debris cleaning,Foreword :2011/8/18(10:20)

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land use planning, memorials, economic development, health issues, andthe impact of the financial crisis of 2009.
When Dave began to compile his notes he asked me, “Who should
I be writing for?” and I answered, “For the governor of Tokyo; for office workers and students; for a housewife taking care of her family; formy mother living in the suburbs.” I do believe he has accomplished this.
Drawing on his extensive experience in Japan he has identified many issues and themes that will resonate with Japanese readers. In Japan, thecentral government has great power and authority over local government;
Dave explains in detail how recovery in New York has been created bystrong intergovernmental relations involving the federal, state and city
governments. In Japan, public participation and nonprofit organizations
are relatively weak, although growing in importance; Dave explains how
public participation has been instrumental in shaping New York’s recovery. In Japan, disaster recovery has usually meant rebuilding what wasthere before; Dave explains how the World Trade Center disaster was
taken as an opportunity to make improvements. Dave’s account also describes how recovery efforts in New York have had to adapt, as issues not
well-understood at the time of the disaster – such as health problems –have become known and understood over time. As he explains, recovery
has been created, not simply administered. I believe these are all issuesof universal appeal.
While recovery from 9/11 is an unprecedented endeavor, taking place
in a highly and densely developed central business district, many major
cities of the world could experience a large-scale urban disaster by natural, unintentional, or intentional causes. For example, our studies haveclarified that there is a 70% probability that within the next 30 years, theTokyo Metropolitan Area may be hit by a Mw7.0 Near Field Earthquake
disaster. If this earthquake disaster occurs, it is forecast that 11,000 persons could be killed, and damage and losses could amount to 1.4 trillion
U.S. dollars. In such a scenario, the central business district of Tokyo will
be susceptible to severe damage like the experience in Lower Manhattan
on 9/11.
Nine and a half years after 9/11, on March 11, 2011 the Mw 9.0 Great
East Japan earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. That disaster – includ-Foreword :2011/8/18(10:20)

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ing the resultant nuclear plant accidents in Fukushima – is sometimes
referred to as 3/11. More than 15,000 persons were killed and 5,000
are still missing as of late July 2011. 6,000 were injured. More than160,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged. Almost half a million
persons were displaced from their homes in the aftermath of the disaster, and 100,000 are still displaced from their homes as of late July 2011.
Long-term recovery efforts are just beginning. The Great East Japan disaster and the probability of an earthquake in Tokyo strengthen our resolve
to learn about the World Trade Center disaster and recovery efforts in order to incorporate their lessons and try to make Tokyo and other urban
areas more disaster-resilient.
I am pleased to have this book published on the tenth anniversary of
9/11, in both English and Japanese editions, as a concise but thoroughaccount of ten years of recovery efforts. I respect and appreciate Dave
Mammen’s patience and commitment to this project as a New Yorker
who was a witness to these significant events.

Haruo Hayashi, Ph.D.
Professor, Research Center for Disaster Reduction Systems
Disaster Prevention Research InstituteKyoto University(At Kyoto, August 1, 2011)