ABSTRACT
Consider the following scenario: you are a senior planner with the US federal government, in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. You wake up one morning to learn from the news broadcasts that due to a foreign policy change or an imminent catastrophe somewhere in the world, your country is to open its gates to 12 million refugees immediately, and will take in 50–70 million people in three to five years. This is equivalent to or higher than the entire population of a large European country such as the UK, France, or Italy. You wonder: how can the government develop policies to ensure adequate management of this avalanche? What could be the impacts on society and its resources? How can cities, towns, and neighborhoods align themselves?
