3. LA, New Orleans: Lower 9th Ward 21st c

The history of the Lower 9th Ward exhibits a story of a diverse, working class community brought together by the challenges of living in a swampy, neglected part of New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina passed through the city in 2005, the Lower 9th‘s socio-economical and infrastructural situation left it the most vulnerable to devastation. Left with an entire neighborhood in ruins, the city now faces questions of how to rebuild a community–if at all–from the ground up. To create a healthy, progressive Lower 9th Ward, the community may have to be open to changes that consider the environmental, economical, and social design of their neighborhood.