Katrina Recovery Architect: It Takes "All of Us Together"
Steven Bingler, architect of the United New Orleans Plan, describes recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina.
Successful recovery from natural disasters like Hurricane Helene requires “authentic community engagement and civic determination.” More than anything, it’s essential that everyone must go through the experience together.
That’s according to Steven Bingler, architect of the Unified New Orleans Plan, which guided citywide recovery and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Steven shared his experiences and insights with more than 100 residents on March 6th at Art Space Charter School in Swannanoa. The event was part of Thrive Asheville’s “Lessons for the Recovery” series, responding to community recovery needs by bringing experts from other disaster-ravaged cities to convey their wisdom and lessons learned. Bingler’s visit was co-sponsored by Thrive, the American Institute of Architects and MountainTrue.
With damages totaling more than $160 million, Katrina was one of the most expensive storms in history. It was also one of the deadliest, killing more than 1,300 people. Steven told the story of how two attempts at top-down planning failed to take hold in the months after the storm. That opened the door to a more transparent approach that involved 9,000 people and a dozen contracted planning firms to concentrate on re-imagining efforts for 73 neighborhoods across 13 districts. It was an effort that closely reflected New Orleans’ cultural and demographic profile.
So, what can we, as Helene survivors, learn from the New Orleans experience and community-inspired resilience? Our guest focused guidance in three lessons:
Recovery planning is not the same as master planning. Recovery planning requires a bottom-up approach and a genuine commitment to civic engagement.
The framework for recovery planning is not linear and sequential. It is a holistic and complex system – one that includes the full range of physical, cultural, social, economic, organizational, and educational dimensions of community life.”
A well-executed plan must produce tangible returns and an unprecedented level of civic determination to stay the course and own the outcomes.
Effective recovery planning requires an “all at the same time” approach. In addition to physical elements, such as infrastructure, we need to concurrently address cultural, economic, organizational, and educational needs. “All at the same time,” Steven said, can be complicated, but it’s necessary.
Steven concluded with a climate change challenge: 93 percent of scientists believe that our world is getting hotter, and doing so at pace that’s faster than ever. Our planning, then, must consider wildfires as much as flooding.
He also offered a reminder as we continue our all-hands-on-deck efforts: “All of us are smarter than any of us.”
Lastly, attendees were invited by local public artist Emily Clanton to contribute to a collective public art creation through the use of recycled fabric scraps (see below) as a tool for healing, education, and connection.