New Orleans

Post-Katrina New Orleans: Focusing on What Could Be

Patrick L. Phillips, CEO of the Urban Land Institute, reflects on the state of rebuilding efforts in New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. He sees an impressive level of planning, momentum and cooperation among stakeholders.

August 30, 2010 - Patrick L. Phillips

Brad Pitt's New Orleans Homes "Symbolically Invaluable"

Architecture critic James Russell tours the homes built in New Orleans' Ninth Ward by Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation and finds a lot to like.

August 25, 2010 - Bloomberg News

Improvement, But Room for More in New Orleans

Five years after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the Brookings Institution offers an analysis of the city's recovery. This op-ed looks at the report, which finds the city improving, but with many areas needing increased focus.

August 17, 2010 - New Orleans Times-Picayune

Rethinking New Orleans' Levees

Three design firms offer new ideas for redesigning New Orleans' levees.

August 5, 2010 - Good

Tear Down Claiborne Ave. Expressway, Says Coalition

A group of activists and planners has released a report showing how tearing down the Claiborne Ave. Expressway in New Orleans and turning it into a boulevard would benefit the neighborhood and the city.

July 25, 2010 - The Times-Picayune

Visualizing New Orleans' Shifting Population

A new infographic from GOOD tracks population shifts in New Orleans, giving a visual representation of the changes underway in the troubled city.

June 17, 2010 - Good

New Orleans, the Shotgun Shack, and Brad Pitt

With due respect to Mr. Pitt for trying, some New Orleans architects and urbanists say the buildings he's brought to the city are "alien" and don't respect local tradition.

May 11, 2010 - Flavorpill

Green Building Flourishes in New Orleans

With more than 500 energy-efficient homes with environmentally friendly features are being built in New Orleans. This rise in green building is being called one of the positive legacies of Hurricane Katrina.

April 13, 2010 - USA Today

New Series Highlights the "Shame" of New Orleans

Treme, the new TV series from David "The Wire" Simon, explores the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.

April 12, 2010 - The Globe and Mail

New Orleans' Recovery Lessons for Haiti

Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the bungled recovery effort offers lessons to Haiti and Chile as they recover from more recent natural disasters, according to this piece from Allison Arieff.

April 6, 2010 - The New York Times

Plandemonium in New Orleans

After Katrina, the entire city of New Orleans had an opinion on how planning should move forward. With many groups intervening and making recommendations, is there too much planning going on?

April 5, 2010 - The Design Observer

Interference with Delta Geography Enabled Katrina's Devastation

The environmental and infrastructural conditions that brought about the flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 remain today, and have the potential to cause similar devastation, according to this piece.

March 31, 2010 - Places

Post-Katrina, New Urbanists Help Haiti

Philip Langdon compares the New Urban response to New Orleans and Haiti.

March 14, 2010 - New Urban News

The Science of Resiliency in Cities

Resilience science has typically been applied to ecosystems. But now, scientists are starting to look at how it relates to cities.

February 18, 2010 - Seed

The Citywide Impact of New Orleans' Trip to the Super Bowl

New Orleans has had a rough couple of years. But now that the city's professional football team is headed to the Super Bowl, the city is relishing the opportunity to celebrate.

January 30, 2010 - The New York Times

The Ruins of Detroit and New Orleans

Bryan Finoki looks at the devastated cities of Detroit and New Orleans and finds "blueprints for the manufacture of ruin".

January 4, 2010 - Triple Canopy

New Orleans Overtaken By Zombies

Using a real city as the setting for a video game can be kinda touchy -- especially if it's a less-than-complimentary reimagining of the city as a zombie wasteland. Post-Katrina New Orleans gets the dystopian video game treatment.

December 8, 2009 - Good

Judge Rules Army Corps Responsible for New Orleans Flooding

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' mismanaged maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was the cause of flood damage in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

November 20, 2009 - New Orleans Times-Picayune

Victory for Katrina Homeowners

A judge rules in favor of plaintiffs who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina in a case against the Army Corps of Engineers, saying they failed to properly maintain a navigation channel.

November 19, 2009 - The New York Times

Blakely Blasts New Orleans Recovery Process

A video interview with Ed Blakely, former New Orleans recovery czar, reveals some tensions with the city, its officials, and its people that hindered the recovery process.

November 13, 2009 - New Orleans Times-Picayune

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.