Metropolitics

The Dangers of Security

Médéric Martin-Mazé & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-05-22T04:30:00Z

In Against Security, Harvey Molotch highlights – through various examples, including the New York subway, airports, and post‑Katrina New Orleans – the way in which security agencies are increasingly replacing common sense with bureaucratic systems that, despite good intentions, in fact have numerous pernicious effects. In his conclusion, he makes a number of proposals for a more human and altruistic form of security.
No one was able to prevent Andreas Lubitz from sending the Airbus A320 he

- Reviews / public space, public transportation, New Orleans, Katrina, New York, security, mass transit, metro, subway, resilience, attacks, airport, bureaucracy, Featured

Constructing Crises

Marla Nelson — 2015-02-23T05:50:00Z

A new book by Kevin Fox Gotham and Miriam Greenberg foregrounds the disturbing parallels between two seemingly distinct crises: Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Marla Nelson reviews their arguments and asserts that activists can draw on the authors' insights—particularly their exposure of the importance of “crisis framing”—to advance visions of more just and inclusive urban redevelopment.
In the nearly 10 years since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf

- Reviews / catastrophe, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, recovery, United States, New York, crisis, resilience, Community Development Block Grants, private-activity bonds, community development

New Orleans as a Rust Belt City?

Robert J. S. Ross — 2011-07-06T05:00:00Z

New Orleans needs to recover not only from the 2005 catastrophic flooding of Katrina, but also from a much more enduring situation of post-industrial poverty, which, Robert Ross argues, places New Orleans alongside Detroit, Newark and others as a Rust Belt City.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years As policy-makers and planners think about the future of New Orleans one hopes they would seek to overcome the poverty that was New Orleans' condition before the flood – rather than to

- Debates / New Orleans, Katrina, deindustrialization, Rust Belt

New Orleans Post-Katrina: the Uses of the Web in Times of Crisis

Jean Samuel Bordreuil & translated by Oliver Waine — 2011-06-24T05:53:00Z

What is the role of the internet media, particularly blogs, in mobilizing action in the aftermath of a major disaster? Jean Samuel Bordreuil examines the case of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and demonstrates the importance of these resources not just in organizing initial aid, but also in sustaining momentum for the mobilization of civic action.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years How does a population hit by a disaster mobilize the digital resources it possesses in

- From the Field / catastrophe, communication technology, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, collective action, hurricane

Who cares about care? Health care rationalization and the demise of a public hospital after Katrina

Anne M. Lovell — 2011-06-08T05:04:00Z

Charity Hospital served the poor and uninsured in one of the US's unhealthiest cities. Though repaired after Katrina, this gigantic New Orleans hospital was permanently shut down to make way for an ambitious recovery plan. Anne M. Lovell explains the mechanisms that are depriving patients of adequate care and demolishing historic neighborhoods.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years Analyses of health and disaster usually concern disaster assistance. More recently, they have focused

- Debates / catastrophe, health, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, recovery, hurricane

The Build/No-Build Line

Richard Campanella — 2011-06-01T05:20:00Z

The Katrina flooding of 2005 ignited a debate between abandonists and maintainers. Should the city move to higher grounds or should it be rebuilt as before? Should concessions be made? If so, where should we draw the line? Richard Campanella explains the arguments behind these positions and why laisser-faire was the ultimate policy, until the next catastrophe.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years This text is the second of two excerpts from Richard Campanella, Bienville's Dilemma:

- From the Field / catastrophe, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, reconstruction, risk, environment, hurricane

Bienville's Dilemma: New Orleans Between Site and Situation

Richard Campanella — 2011-05-25T05:30:00Z

Ever since its founding at the mouth of the Mississippi river, New Orleans is the result of a delicate compromise between site and situation, a fragile balance of environmental risk and commercial and military advantage. Richard Campanella shows that it is this exceptional location which allowed New Orleans to develop as one of the most important American cities despite recurring flooding.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years This text is the first of two excerpts from Richard

- Debates / catastrophe, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, delta, hurricane