A Comparison of New Orleans and the Developing-Country City

There are a few different ways we could compare the devastation and then growth of New Orleans to that of the urbanization occurring in developing-country cities. Hurricane Katrina hit the reset button on New Orleans when it destroyed and devastated the city in 2005, leaving the residents, government officials, and real estate developers questioning what was the future of the city. Buildings and infrastructure all over the city had to be rebuilt. Some people at the time argued that investing money into the city was a waste of time and resources, particularly with New Orleans being geographically susceptible to natural disasters and the wreckage of Katrina creating a burden both locally and federally. Others argued that this was a chance to make the city even better than it was before. Many worried that the new plans for rebuilding the city wouldn't embody the culture of New Orleans and its rich history and traditions. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina gave the city of New Orleans some of the same opportunities and challenges faced in the developing-country cities, however its development is still very Western in nature and thus not experiencing anywhere near the population growth of megacities in the developing countries of the world.

The devastation from Hurricane Katrina put the city of New Orleans in a unique position of having to be completely rebuilt while losing many of its long-time residents that many, even twelve years later, have yet to return. Of course, the rebuilding of New Orleans has also attracted others from outside the city as the process brings in opportunities for jobs in sectors such as construction and real estate, as well as having a large number of start-ups flocking to the city. New Orleans can draw comparisons with megacities in the way that new job opportunities have attracted more and more outsiders to move to the city. Of course, this has led to some tension within the city, especially when paired with the processes of gentrification, income inequality, and differing cultural backgrounds.

The book Introduction to Cities: How Place and Space Shape Human Experience discusses some of the main qualities of the developing-country cities:

Developing-country cities have been growing much faster, reaching much larger sizes, becoming increasingly unequal at the social-economic level, and becoming more and more integrated into the global economy. (Chen, X., Orum, A. M., & Paulsen, K. E; pg. 243).

While New Orleans is not necessarily growing at an exponentially fast rate or reached a size even comparable to the largest cities in the United States, it does share in the qualities of social-economic inequality and a small growth of integration into the global economy. New Orleans had issues of poverty and economic inequality prior to Hurricane Katrina, it is perhaps arguably even more noticeable and relevant today as parts of the city have truly rebuilt better than before, bringing in wealth from the tourism sector in areas such as the French Quarter, Uptown, and the Central Business District, while many other parts of the city continue to struggle. New Orleans also managed to attract wealthier individuals and families back into the city, spurring the progression of gentrification in some parts of the city, leading to a sort of paradox where this process has brought in the much needed capital and resources into areas that are still lacking behind in infrastructure and housing, but also causing the cost of living in these areas to rise to the point that long-time residents can no longer afford to stay. There has yet to be a definitive solution to this dilemma - one that helps bring in the necessary revenue to revive these otherwise largely forgotten areas without displacing the residents that have defined these neighborhoods for years. The influx of newcomers to New Orleans, along with the regrowth processes have also led to many residents feeling that the city will never embody the same spirit and that a sense of their culture is being left behind.

Another cause of tension in the city is based upon the unequal distribution of wealth. An overwhelming number of people that have contributed to the rebuilding and generation of wealth within the city since Hurricane Katrina, through jobs in sectors such as construction and tourism, but they do not have a fair share of the same wealth and growth they contributed to.

While New Orleans is still definitely a Western city in a developed nation, it does pose some similarities of growth of those in the developing countries. Hurricane Katrina contributed heavily to these similarities by causing the need for the city to rebuild, captivating newcomers to the area, nd highlighting issues of social-economic inequality within the city.

Source

Chen, X., Orum, A. M., & Paulsen, K. E. (2013). Introduction to Cities: How Place and Space Shape Human Experience. Wiley-Blackwell.

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