Creating Twenty-first-century Community

Abstract

The world was riveted to the horror and heroism that followed the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in New York on September 11, 2001. It applauded as officials at every government level determined to rebuild the site. But the world averted its eyes as the rebuilding effort foundered. Too many entities were in charge. Officials did not know how to convene people with a stake in the site, especially when some deemed it a sacred graveyard and others regarded it an essential element of the downtown economy. For all the expertise assembled, plans kept stalling, costs ran ever upward, and management of the enormously complex building site bogged down in political and money disputes.