Robert B. Olshansky

Professor & Associate Head of Urban and Regional Planning
PhD, University of California-Berkeley, 1987

Dr. Olshansky’s teaching and research cover land use and environmental planning, with an emphasis on planning for natural hazards.  He has published extensively on post-disaster recovery planning, planning and policy for earthquake risks, and environmental impact assessment. His previous work included studies of earthquake risk in communities in the Central U.S., land use planning implications of the 1994 Northridge California earthquake, earthquake preparedness in the Central U.S., guidelines for seismic safety advocates, the use of seismic zonation in land use planning, policies for landslide hazard reduction, financing landslide mitigation, and local hillside development policies. He also completed a comprehensive study of the local implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act.

More recently, Professor Olshansky has studied recovery after several major earthquakes, most notably the Kobe, Japan earthquake of 1995. He spent the 2004-2005 academic year studying this topic as a Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, Disaster Prevention Research Institute. Since September 2005 he has been closely monitoring the post-Katrina planning process in New Orleans.

Publications include a book on landslide policy, two monographs on seismic safety for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, one monograph on hillside planning for the American Planning Association, and a forthcoming monograph on recovery following the 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes.

Contact Information
Room 111, Temple Buell Hall
611 Taft Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217.333.8703
Fax: 217.244.1717
E-mail: robo@illinois.edu

Current Research Areas

• Planning for reconstruction in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina
  
  
• The role of organizations in earthquake and disaster preparedness in Memphis
  
  
• Theories of post-disaster recovery planning
  
  
• Post-earthquake redevelopment opportunities in Los Angeles and Kobe, Japan
  
  
• The role of planning in reducing earthquake risks

Selected Publications

Olshansky, Robert B., and Stephanie E. Chang. “Planning for Disaster Recovery: Emerging Research Needs and Challenges,” in press Progress in Planning, 2009.

Olshansky, Robert B., Laurie A. Johnson, Jedidiah Horne, and Brendan Nee. “Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans,” Journal of the American Planning Association, 74(3): 273-287, 2008.

Olshansky, Robert B., Laurie A. Johnson, Kenneth C. Topping, “Rebuilding communities following disaster:  Lessons from Kobe and Los Angeles,” Built Environment 32(4): 354-374, 2006.

Olshansky, Robert B, “Planning after Hurricane Katrina,“ Journal of the American Planning Association, 72(2): 147-153, 2006.

Olshansky, Robert B.; Nakabayashi, Itsuki; and Ohnishi, Kazuyoshi.  “Socioeconomic, Policy, and Planning Aspects of the 2004 Niigata-ken Chuetsu Earthquake,” Earthquake Spectra, 22(S1): S163-S175, 2006.

Olshansky, Robert B. 2005. "Making a Difference: Stories of Successful Seismic Safety Advocacy," Earthquake Spectra, 21(2): 441-464.

Background Papers, Promoting Seismic Safety: Guidance for Advocates, developed by Alesch, Daniel; May, Peter; Olshansky, Robert; Petak, William; and Tierney, Kathleen. Prepared for Federal Emergency Management Agency, April 2004.

Alesch, Daniel; May, Peter; Olshansky, Robert; Petak, William; and Tierney, Kathleen, Promoting Seismic Safety: Guidance for Advocates, Prepared for Federal Emergency Management Agency, April 2004.

Olshansky, Robert B., Yuening Wu, and Steven French, "Evaluating Earthquake Risk in Mid-America Communities". Mid-America Earthquake Center, University of Illinois, 2003.

Olshansky, Robert B., and Yueming Wu, "Earthquake Risk Analysis for Los Angeles County Under Present and Planned Land Uses," Environment and Planning B 28(3), 2001, pp. 419-432.

"Land Use Planning for Seismic Safety: The Los Angeles County Experience, 1971-1994," Journal of the American Planning Association 67(2), 2001, pp. 173-185.

Burby, Raymond J., Robert E. Deyle, David R. Godschalk, and Robert B. Olshansky, "Creating Hazard Resilient Communities Through Land-Use Planning," Natural Hazards Review (ASCE) 1(2), 2000, pp. 99-106.

Garcia, Margot, Robert B. Olshansky, and Raymond Burby, "Environmental Assessment," Chapter Five in Practice of Local Government Planning, Washington, DC: International City/County Management Association, 2000.

"Regulation of Hillside Development in the United States," Environmental Management, 22(3):383-392, 1998.

"The Role of Earthquake Hazard Maps in Loss Estimation: A Study of the Northridge Earthquake," Earthquake Spectra, 13(4):721-737, 1997.

"The California Environmental Quality Act and Local Planning," Journal of the American Planning Association, 62(3):313-330, 1996.

Olshansky, Robert B., and Jack D. Kartez, "Managing Land Use to Build Resilience," Chapter Six in R. J. Burby, ed., Confronting Natural Hazards: Land-Use Planning for Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC: National Academy/Joseph Henry Press, 1998.

Promoting the Adoption and Enforcement of Seismic Building Codes: A Guidebook for State Earthquake and Mitigation Managers, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC, FEMA-313, January 1998. PDF

Planning for Hillside Development, Planning Advisory Service Report No. 466, American Planning Association, Chicago, 1996, 25 pp.