A neighborhood in New Orleans, badly damaged after Hurricane Katrina, is providing a test bed for an innovative new approach to urban planning.

"In 2015, grant writers in New Orleans decided that art should be part of resilience planning," reports Zoe Sullivan.
That decision was connected to work on a competitive Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) grant to support the planning and water-management infrastructure for the Gentilly Resilience District," according to Sullivan. "In 2016, New Orleans was one of 13 communities to win a $141 million grant in the National Disaster Resilience Competition organized by HUD and the Rockefeller Foundation."
"The competition aimed to inspire and support cities working to make themselves more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Now, three years after the award was announced, the Arts Council of New Orleans is conducting trainings for artists who want to get involved in co-creating public art in the neighborhood."
Sullivan describes a lot more about how the grant money is being implemented, the philosophy behind art at a component of resilience planning, and some of the public art elements that have grown out of the effort to this point.
FULL STORY: How New Orleans Is Adding Art to Resilience Planning

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Planting Relief: Tackling Las Vegas Heat One Tree at a Time
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How Madison’s Tree Planting Efforts Are Growing a Healthier Community
Madison’s annual tree planting initiative is enhancing environmental resilience, public health, and community livability by adding 1,400 carefully selected trees citywide, with strong community and institutional support for urban forestry.

Texas State Bills Could Kill Transit Funding in Dallas, Austin
State lawmakers could pull funding from the state’s largest transit agency and the ambitious Project Connect, a voter-approved transit project in Austin.
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