Over six months have passed since the tragic events brought on by Hurricane Katrina, and planning and development issues remain at the forefront of the national debate. This special section presents the most-read news articles about Katrina from our news archives. Also included are nine thought-provoking Planetizen Op-Eds and Features, in addition to links to our Hurricane Katrina forum and Top Issues for 2005 list, which includes the disaster. Together, these writings address the major issues that have emerged in the last half-year and analyze the impact of Katrina on planning.
Planetizen Op-Eds
Car-less in the Eye of Katrina
The reason so many lives are in jeopardy from Hurricane Katrina is a result of our extreme dependence on cars and the lack of planning for public transportation, both for regular use and for emergencies, writes John Renne, a professor at the University of New Orleans, evacuated just days before the hurricane hit.
Sep 06, 2005
How can cities plan for the unplanned, or those crises that cannot be precisely anticipated? Considered in the context of the recent tragedy in New Orleans, Aseem Inam compares disaster management in large urban metropolises and sheds light on how and why some planning institutions work better than others in difficult conditions. Can bureaucracy and institutional culture actually improve responses to urban crises?
Sep 12, 2005
Thomas Campanella, co-editor of The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover From Disaster, contemplates the case of New Orleans. Very few cities actually die, but could New Orleans be one of them? What will it take to ensure its survival? And even if it survives, will the city ever be able to regain its original character?
Sep 21, 2005
Thoughts On Rebuilding (And Not Rebuilding) New Orleans
Should New Orleans be rebuilt? Whose fault was the flooding? Jason Henderson, Assistant Professor of Geography at San Francisco State University, and a New Orleans native, warns the citizens of his home city that rebuilding all is a bad idea, and that the flooding was an act of public policy failure, not nature.
Sep 26, 2005
Katrina's Implications for Disaster Management: Lessons Learned From New Orleans
Two months after Katrina, what have we learned? Graham Stroh analyzes Katrina's disaster management lessons on law enforcement, communication and social infrastructure.
Oct 31, 2005
A Plan For Democratic And Equitable Planning In New Orleans
Planners from around the country have already descended on the Gulf Coast region, beginning a series of charrettes to shape the future of land use and community development in the devastated region. Yet are the local residents -- especially those who need the most help -- ready to make plans? Leonardo Vazquez argues that more careful, long-term planning is needed to ensure that current residents and refugees alike are given the stake and voice they need in the rebuilding efforts.
Nov 07, 2005
When The New York Times linked CNU planners to an alleged scheme to replace a neighborhood with a golf course, it blundered and missed a larger story on renewing Coastal Missisippi, say CNU co-authors John Norquist and Stephen Filmanowicz.
Dec 22, 2005
New Urbanist Planning Essential To Gulf Rebuilding
Ricky Mathews, Publisher of the Biloxi Sun Herald and Vice-Chairman of the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal after Hurricane Katrina, argues that Andres Duany and other New Urbanists have been critical to the early success of rebuilding efforts in Mississippi, providing citizens not only with the hope of recovery, but with master planning that has inspired confidence in a bigger and better Gulf Coast community, all while respecting local traditions.
Feb 07, 2006
Working Across Disciplines Toward Gulf Coast Solutions
Design Week 2006, Mississippi State University -- Frank Barbour, landscape architecture student at Mississippi State University, reports on MSU's Design Week 2006, which grouped 150 students from a variety of disciplines -- including architects, engineers, business students, and ecologists -- in an intense charrette to devise creative solutions to post-Katrina problems on Mississippi's Gulf Coast.
Apr 03, 2006
News Archive
Ross Gelbspan believes the U.S. media is not telling the Americans the complete story of Hurricane Katrina.
Sep 02, 2005 - Boston Globe
Hurricane Katrina: A Man-made Disaster?
Some scientists believe that storms such as Hurricane Katrina that are sometimes called an act of God or a natural disaster, are partly man-made.
Sep 02, 2005 - Wall St. Journal
NASA offers simulated views of the effects of storm surge flooding on Lake Pontchartrain and the New Orleans area.
Sep 05, 2005 - NASA
Lack of Automobility Key to New Orleans Tragedy
The real cause of the tragedy in New Orleans was the lack of automobiles for evacuees, argues Randall O'Toole.
Sep 05, 2005 - Thoreau Institute
Former New Orleans Planning Director Speaks
Kristina Ford discusses what went wrong and how New Orleans should rebuild.
Sep 06, 2005 - Fresh Air with Terry Gross
Students Design Alternate Housing For Katrina Victims
Auburn University Design/Build students design an inexpensive alternative for providing temporary housing after a disaster.
Sep 07, 2005 - Auburn University News
The Case Against Rebuilding New Orleans
Jack Schafer argues that Katrina may amount to "creative destruction," and that "[o]nly a sadist would insist on resurrecting this concentration of poverty, crime, and deplorable schools."
Sep 08, 2005 - Slate
Three Planning Concepts For Rebuilding New Orleans
Patrick Doherty disagrees with New York Times columnist David Brooks' suggestions for rebuilding New Orleans. He argues that a redevelopment plan for New Orleans should adopt three urban planning concepts and lead the way for other U.S. metro areas.
Sep 09, 2005 - Common Sense
Katrina Forum
http://www.planetizen.com/forum/101
Top Issues of 2005
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Chicago Avenue bridge construction delays enrages city leaders
The bridge has been closed since 2025. The city originally aimed to re-open it in December, and now expects to finish construction in 2027.
NYC bus network redesign speeds up Queens buses
Rush routes have seen a 4.6% speed increase after the redesign.
California High-Speed Rail Authority picks trainset manufacturer
The California High-Speed Rail Authority aims to start servicing passengers by 2033.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
