How do cities and communities come back from disasters, natural or man-made? As Dean of the Tulane University School of Architecture in New Orleans, architectural educator, commentator and advocate Reed Kroloff shepherded the school through Hurricane Katrina and beyond. In the rebuilding effort he co-chaired the city’s task force on urban design.

Subsequently, he took the reins at the Cranbrook Academy of Art outside Detroit, where he was actively involved in public and private sector initiatives to jump-start redevelopment in that depressed city. In this timely and relevant session, Reed Kroloff shares his experiences in struggling urban centres, and the stories he encountered along the way.