New Orleans Under Reconstruction

When the levees broke in August 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina, 80 percent of the city of New Orleans was flooded, with a loss of 134,000 homes and 986 lives. In particular, the devastation hit the vulnerable communities the hardest: the old, the poor and the African American. The disaster exposed the hideous inequality of the city. In response to the disaster numerous plans, designs and projects were proposed.

This bold, challenging and informed book gathers together the variety of responses from politicians, writers, architects and planners and searches for the answers of one of the most important issues of our age: How can we plan for the future, creating a more robust and equal place?

Carol M. Reese is the Christovich Associate Professor at Tulane University.

Michael Sorkin is an award-winning architect and Distinguished Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design at the City College of New York.

Anthony Fontenot, born in New Orleans, is an architect and writer. He has written about life in cities all around the world.