2011 APA Awards - Plan for the 21st Century: New Orleans

National Planning Achievement Award for a Hard-Won Victory

Plan for the 21st Century: New Orleans 2030
New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans adopted its first citywide plan in August 2010. The plan protects New Orleans but also builds a culture of citywide planning. Prior to passage of the plan, New Orleans had a long accepted culture of making development decisions through a political process that relegated planning to the sidelines. The challenges to create a citywide plan were many — racial tensions, skepticism, competition among neighborhoods for limited recovery resources, and the lack of existing citywide plans to build upon.

The planning team implemented a grassroots process of educating the entire community about planning, creating a culture that equipped residents with the tools to work and make decisions together. The team also built trust among elected officials, city staff, and community leaders that forged cohesive points of view. More than 5,000 people directly participated in the master plan, not only giving feedback but learning how citywide planning initiatives and data-backed policies are critical when reclaiming 60,000 vacant lots, boosting the city's environmental resilience, and diversifying the local economy.

When the draft plan was presented to the city council, a coalition of neighborhood organizations, business groups, preservationists, developers, and leaders of every race for the first time stood together to defend the plan they had created and embraced. The plan was unanimously approved by the city council.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• APA
• American Planning Association
• New Orleans
• NOLA
• city council
• planning
• master plan
• urban
• community
• environmental
• sustainability