The disasters of the 2005 hurricane season and the recovery from those events have emphasized how the social, biological, and physical landscapes are intertwined. To work towards a sustainable urban system requires understanding of all the complex networks operating in cities, including human processes and the surrounding ecological context.
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Population and global climate trends suggest that urban settlements worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to global change. Currently, 44% and 53% of the global and United States population respectively lives within 150 kilometers of a coast. At the same time, more than 50% of the world’s population lives in urban environments with an estimated 61% living in urban environments by 2030. Thus, the linked urban and natural systems of historic port cities at or near sea level provide both a challenge and an opportunity to conduct research, education, and effective policy that promote urban sustainability in the face of global change. It can be argued that no other urban environments are at a higher imminent risk due to global change (notably sea-level rise) than such coastal metropolitan areas, notably those that are at or below sea level and within striking distance of tropical cyclones. Following the catastrophic events of hurricane Katrina, a top national priority is the application of scientific principles to the development of sustainable and resilient urban ecosystems. Thus, New Orleans has the potential to serve as a model for some of the world’s largest urban areas (e.g., Tokyo, New York City, London, Shanghai, Manila). This requires the interaction of experts in the fields of natural, built, economic, and social environments. In a world where climate is changing, and population continually growing, what we learn here will be relevant everywhere.
The CBR’s Urban Ecosystem Initiative studies cities and communities in the context of their natural ecosystems, toward the better understanding of resilience, recovery, and sustainability.
Universities rarely work directly with the cities that house them, but Hurricane Katrina has created a commitment in area colleges to work on rebuilding and re-inhabiting New Orleans. The CBR is committed to applying scientific principles to help create a resilient and sustainable urban ecosystem. Working with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association in the Lower Ninth Ward we have created an urban/natural environmental laboratory to study and foster climate-neutral rebuilding and sustainable urban planning. But the problems facing New Orleans are not of import only here—international collaborations through UNESCO and Japanese researchers and government officials bring context and further applications. These projects provide focus and resources for the interaction of natural and social sciences, engineering, and architecture for the sake of social well-being and sustainability and governance.
- The Holy Cross Historic District and Lower 9th Ward Sustainable Restoration Plan won the attention of the national non-profit Global Green, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Clinton Global Climate Initiative. Aspects of the plan have been adopted as part of the city of New Orleans’ recovery projects.
- CBR Deputy Director, Douglas Meffert, serves as the New Orleans coordinator for UNESCO’s Urban Biosphere International Partnership of Cities which also includes New York and Phoenix (USA), Stockholm (Sweden), Cape Town (South Africa), Istanbul (Turkey), and Canberra (Australia).
- CBR Researchers Torbjorn Tornqvist, studying subsidence in the city and surrounding wetlands, Richard Campanella, studying patterns of economic activity and demographics before and after the storm, and Jeffrey Chambers, studying changes in vegetation in and surrounding the city since the storm, are leading members of a growing team of scientists studying the disaster and recovery from it.
- The Katrina Environmental Research and Restoration Network (KERRN) was formed in October 2005, has grown to 150 scientist-members, and serves as a means of connecting researchers together, and to communities in need of their expertise.
- Tulane School of Architecture's City Center is working with the CBR to promote sustainable architecture and smart-growth projects.
- Tulane School of Architecture Students are working on the design and building of a Steward’s Cottage on one of the CBR’s sites, A Studio in the Woods.
- Reinhabiting NOLA, brought experts and community members together in November of 2005 to detail and address the challenges of reinhabiting a city with 180,000 badly damaged homes and 80% of its area flooded by stormwater.
- J. Aron Charitable Foundation
- United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- U.S. Department of Energy and the LA Department of Natural Resources
- The Coypu Foundation
- The United States Geological Survey
- The Fannie Mae Foundation
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