Edward Blakely grew up in a poverty- stricken San Bernardino neighborhood and evolved into one of the nation's leading urban planners.

Now, this internationally acclaimed professor of urban affairs has been charged with the task of a lifetime - saving New Orleans. This month, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin tapped Blakely as his executive director for recovery management to rebuild the beleaguered city from Hurricane Katrina's disastrous effects.

"New Orleans is not just another city - it's the soul of our nation," said Blakely, 69, on Thursday during a daylong symposium, "Conference on the Suburbs," at the Mission Inn in Riverside. "If we don't save New Orleans, we can't save the world."

It's another honor for Blakely, one of many that fill his glowing resume. He has helped rebuilding efforts in New York City, Los Angeles and Oakland while helping cities across the globe reinvent themselves.

For a man who has taken part in reconstructing so many devastated communities, one question for him is: "What would you do to heal San Bernardino?"

"City leaders should look at what San Bernardino should be and not imitate what everyone else does," said Blakely, whose work at UC Riverside led to the creation

of what is now known as the Edward Blakely Center for Sustainable Suburban Development. "It's gone after every fad - the mall, the ballpark, downtown.

"San Bernardino has tried to do it with tricks."

Blakely suggested city leaders invest in their city by turning it into a more pronounced logistics hub, making it a critical stopping point in shipping goods, putting products together and moving supplies across the nation.

Because of the city's proximity to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, San Bernardino is in a prime location to become a leader in the industry, he said.

It's a focus that San Bernardino County leaders have embraced in the past year.

"Build that economy and then build the city to match that economy," Blakely said. "In the past, the city grew without planning. San Bernardino wanted to have a bigger population, and didn't think about where to put that and how to organize it."

Blakely has few ties to the city now, save for his memories. Although he grew up poor, Blakely said, crime wasn't a problem when he was a child. His family didn't lock their home's doors until he was in college, he recalled.

None of Blakely's family remains now. They have moved south, and "Riverside has embraced me," he said.

San Bernardino officials have never approached their native son for advice.

Thirty years ago, he suggested to San Bernardino's leaders at the time that they create something similar to San Antonio's Riverwalk, a sprawling combination of development that is that city's hallmark. His suggestions went unheeded then, although city officials now have been intrigued by creating something similar now.

Friends and colleagues describe San Bernardino's loss of Blakely as a boon for the rest of the world.

Robert Lang, the director at Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute, which studies development patterns, has known Blakely for a long time. He described Blakely as "the whole package" when it comes to planning, but someone whose particular strength is economic development.

"He's one of the leading thinkers and one of the leading act-ers in his field," Lang said. "And he always seems to be in the middle of the action."

Does he ever.

In 2001, while serving as the dean of the Milano Graduate School at New School University in New York, he helped in the reconstruction following the terrorist attacks.

He assisted in efforts following the L.A. riots in 1992 while he was the dean and the Lusk Professor of Planning and Development for the School of Urban Planning and Development at USC.

And in 1989, while a professor and chairman of the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, Blakely contributed to recovery efforts in Oakland after the Loma Prieta earthquake.

While in Oakland, he endured a rare failure when voters chose former Gov. Jerry Brown over him to be mayor.

When not assisting in disaster reconstruction efforts, Blakely has advised government leaders in South Korea, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Indonesia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Ali Sahabi, who considers Blakely his mentor, described his longtime friend as always being instrumental in formulating regional solutions to problems.

"The way he can bring people together is amazing," said Sahabi, a developer whose Corona mixed-use project Dos Lagos has been praised by environmental groups. "He cares about what everyone has to say. And then, he is smart and comes up with solutions."