New Orleans re-built by residents - not by government or starchitects 17-06-2008 New Orleanians have been able to revive their city without much government
involvement or 'starchitect' influence. In August 2005 the city was severely hit
by Hurricane Katrina, leaving the city in ruins and largely abandoned. Ever
since, residents have given a lot of effort to rebuild their city. Whereas many
famous architects had all kinds of spectacular ideas for the city, inhabitants
have mainly shaped the city according to their own ideas. 'The big easy
rebuilds, bottom up', written by Nicole Gelinas for City Journal, describes this
process in New Orleans. This article shows how effective and successful such a
bottom-up approach can be. It moreover illustrates that resident involvement can
strongly contribute to the success of new neighbourhoods.
After Hurrican Katrina smashed into New Orleans, a bottom-up approach was
chosen to rebuild the city. Many initiatives have been set up, and in January
2008 302,000 of the total former 455,000 residents in New Orleans had returned
to the city. In New Orleans, homeowners were given the freedom to experiment
with their own houses. Locally based organisations have devoted special
attention to low-income neighbourhoods. According to the author, 'New Orleans's
returning residents have performed heroically, demonstrating that restoring
neighbourhoods is a job far better suited to citizens than to government.'
However, she argues that there are special tasks the government should fulfil.
First of all, the government should pay special attention to the fact that many
houses in New Orleans are abandoned, which can have a negative effect on the
image of and quality of living in a neighbourhood. Secondly, they should protect
citizens from violent crime. New Orleans was already known as a dangerous city
before Katrina, and is considered to be even more dangerous now. New Orleans
residents can fix their city, but the government should ensure that they can fix
it under the right circumstances, otherwise they will not return to the city to
stay.
Source:
City
Journal
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