Fault Lines

Earth’s fractured geology is visible in its fault lines. It is along these lines that earthquakes occur, sometimes with disastrous effects. These disturbances can significantly influence urban development, as seen in the aftermath of two earthquakes in Messina, Italy, in 1908 and in the Belice Valley, Sicily, in 1968. Following the history of these places before and after their destruction, this book explores plans and developments that preceded the disasters and the urbanism that emerged from the ruins. These stories explore fault lines between “rural” and “urban,” “backwardness” and “development,” and “before” and “after,” shedding light on the role of environmental forces in the history of human habitats.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Sites of disaster map

Introduction: Can Earthquakes Speak?

• The Voice of the Earthquake
• A Tale of Two Earthquakes
• The Structure of This Book

Part I: The 1908 Messina Earthquake

Chapter 1. The 1908 Messina Earthquake

• Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fire
• Earthquake Science
• Earthquake-Proof Urbanism

Chapter 2. Urban Reform 1880-1908

• Sanitizing the City
• A New Geography of Urban Water
• Engineering the City’s Environment
• To Live Happily and Forget the Quake

Chapter 3. The Modern City 1909-1943

• The Provisional City (and Its Permanent Consequences)
• The Master Plan
• The City Developers versus the Hut Dwellers
• The New City and Its Darker Sides

Part II: The 1968 Belice Valley Earthquake

Chapter 4. The 1968 Belice Valley Earthquake

• “Like an Atomic Wasteland”
• The Disaster of Poverty
• Road Maps to Development

Chapter 5. Rural Modernity 1933-1967

• Reclamation and Redemption
• Development Plans
• Grassroots Counter-Measures
• The Many Virtues of Water

Chapter 6. Urbanized Countryside 1968-1993

• Tents, Barracks, and Committees
• The City Territory
• New Towns and Ghost Factories
• Rural Urbanism

Conclusion: Fault Lines

• Tales of Earthquake Urbanism
• Fault Lines in a Seismic Country
• Hazards, Urbanization, and Nature

Bibliography