Book chapter
“Shaken but Not Stirred”: The Aftermath of Urban Disasters
Disasters in Australia and New Zealand: Historical Approaches to Understanding Catastrophe, pp.79-98
Palgrave Macmillan
2020
Abstract
Disasters, as transformative environmental forces, challenge human perceptions of identity, belonging and control. This chapter concentrates on the aftermath of two specific urban disasters—the 1989 Newcastle earthquake and 2011 Brisbane flood—to explore how these events threatened human notions of place and environmental security. The death and building destruction caused by the earthquake undermined Newcastle’s residents’ sense of identity, the rarity of the event confronted their feelings of security. Brisbane’s 2011 flood inundated or destroyed buildings, shattering the myth of flood immunity. In Newcastle intense debate erupted over the preservation of damaged buildings. In Brisbane wrath was directed at presumed dam mismanagement. I argue that in both cases what was at stake was a desire to reassert a sense of place and human control over nature. But in doing so, both cities failed to adequately address the human-induced dimensions of natural disasters, thereby undermining potential for resilience and adaptation to environmental change.
Details
- Title
- “Shaken but Not Stirred”: The Aftermath of Urban Disasters
- Authors
- Margaret Cook (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Social Sciences - Legacy
- Contributors
- Scott McKinnon (Editor) - University of WollongongMargaret Cook (Editor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Social Sciences - Legacy
- Publication details
- Disasters in Australia and New Zealand: Historical Approaches to Understanding Catastrophe, pp.79-98
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-981-15-4382-1_5; 10.1007/978-981-15-4382-1
- ISBN
- 9789811543821
- Organisation Unit
- School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99484008702621
- Output Type
- Book chapter
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