Longer View: Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans

Abstract

Catastrophic disasters like Hurricane Katrina disrupt urban systems, economies, and lives, and pose huge problems for local governments and planners trying to organize and finance reconstruction as quickly and effectively as possible. Purpose: This article aims to summarize the key planning challenges New Orleans faced following the August 29, 2005 flooding in order to identify lessons planners can apply following future disasters. Methods: In this case study we sought to observe key decisions about the recovery as they unfolded. Collectively, we spent months in New Orleans in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and interviewed leaders of all the planning efforts to date. One of us played a lead role in the design and execution of the Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP), and all observed and/or participated in neighborhood-level planning activities. Results and conclusions: We agree with previous findings on post-disaster recovery, confirming the importance of previous plans, citizen involvement, information infrastructure, and external resources. We also observe that the recovery of New Orleans might have proceeded more effectively in spite of the inherent challenges in post-Katrina New Orleans. Many local difficulties are a result of the slow flow of federal reconstruction funding. Despite this, the city administration also could have taken a more active leadership role in planning and information management earlier; the city's Office of Recovery Management has since improved this. On the positive side, the Louisiana Recovery Authority has been a model worth emulating by other states.

What defines success when visions compete: lessons from post-Katrina New Orleans

“…Our visioning perspective distinguishes our study from other work written about New Orleans and similar post-disaster rebuilding challenges, which typically take the perspective of recovery theory (Kates et al 2006;Nelson, Ehrenfeucht, and Laska 2007;Olshansky 2006;Olshansky et al 2008). Recovery theorists analyse the total recovery process, often with an institutional focus.…”

Comparative Study of Post-disaster Reconstruction Paradigm and Iranian Experts’ Perspective of Reconstruction

“…By investigating previous studies on disaster reconstruction from 1977 to 2005, he stated different sections related post-disaster reconstruction social planning approach and he examined reconstruction from four perspectives of "predictable process", as management problem, a process of physical changes, and urban planners' evocation. He introduced reconstruction variables in the areas of process, urban systems, physical changes, justice, money and other external resources and he introduced designing strategies as the most important factors of success in this regard (Olshansky et al, 2008). According to him, involving citizens and processes citizen-based process are important in decision-making related to reconstruction.…”

Planen ohne Risiko: New Orleans und der Wiederaufbau nach Katrina/Planning Without Risk: New Orleans and the Reconstruction After Katrina

“…Auf Betreiben der Louisiana Recovery Authority (einer nach Katrina eingerichteten Behörde des Staates Louisiana) und der Unterstützer_innen aus den Kreisen der Bring New Orleans Back Commission wurde die dritte große Planungsrunde initiiert: Der Unified New Orleans Plan oder UNOP (Olshansky et al 2008) [14] Jedes dieser Großereignisse fand parallel an mehreren Orten in New Orleans sowie in den großen Exil-Zentren statt, um auch einem Großteil der zu diesem Zeitpunkt evakuierten Bürger_innen die Chance zur Teilnahme zu bieten (Wilson 2009 (UNOP 2007, 10f. u.…”