There is a tendency in America to rebuild devastated cities in much the same way that they were before disaster struck. Parts of Anchorage destroyed by earthquakes were rebuilt again. North Carolina coastal cities that were flooded and damaged by Floyd and Hugo were rebuilt again. Even parts of Miami and other Florida cities wrecked by hurricanes in recent years were reconstructed in much the same way. The reason for this is common sense. Insurance payments to property owners are for the same sites. Land ownership patterns do not change. Infrastructure is replaced. Most of all, there is an inherent American ethic to rebuild that is based upon our pioneer and ethnic traditions.
Certainly there are some who would agree that we should not rebuild after a disaster ruins an area, especially in environmentally sensitive zones. Some would argue not to allow redevelopment in coastal areas or flood-prone zones. Some would have us move and return the land to open space or even passive recreation. It will not happen.
When the French built the City of New Orleans in 1718, they knew that the area was about a foot below sea level between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchetrain, so they built on the highest part of the bowl-like land form. The French Quarter around Jackson Square is about 10 feet above sea leave. That is why it was saved from flooding. The levee system offered some protection from flooding until Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of two breeches. Yet, for almost 300 years, New Orleans survived and became a national treasure.
We should rebuild New Orleans and the cities along the Gulf Coast that Hurricane Katrina destroyed. We do not have a lot of time to do planning because people are in a hurry to get back their lives and property - - perfectly understandable behavior. What we can do is set some planning guidelines. I suggest these five.
- Keep the urban traditions that are so typical of New Orleans - - traditions that are popular in the New Urbanism movement whereby streets, buildings, and parks are human - scale and invite walking. It would be a shame to let new construction be an urban sprawl that extends the vulnerable areas and exacerbates infrastructure and transportation costs.
- Make the levees bigger and better than they were previously. We should raise the protection goals from the current Category 3 Hurricane Scale to a Category 5 Hurricane Scale. Let the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lead the effort.
- We should restore the wetlands, bayous, and marshes along the mouth of the Mississippi that were destroyed by shipping, commerce, development, and oil/gas production. These areas can act as natural sponges to absorb much of the storm surge.
- The transportation system should be expanded and strengthened against wind loads and floods. Most of this would be improved highways that serve the peripheries of the downtown, but we should enhance the public transit system including light rail. It was estimated that a quarter of the city’s population could not evacuate because they had no cars.
- The building codes must be upgraded even in the historical areas. A good model would be Florida’s building codes which were effective in recent storms. Yet even they can be improved. While we should heed the architectural and design patrimony of the historic areas, we should not let that trump safety and security. We can have both heritage and protection.
These five planning guidelines can get us started, but this is going to be a long process. Who will pay? We all will. Whether it be through taxpayer dollars, increased insurance premiums, gas and oil prices, or voluntary gifts, we will all share in the cost of rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast cities. It is worth it, but let’s do it the right way by planning for the long-term.
Anthony James Catanese
Anthony James Catanese is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He is the President of the Florida Institute of Technology. |
