Abstract
In this paper, we draw on multi-level census data, in-depth interviews, ethnographic and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) methods to examine the effects of median household income, ethnoracial diversity, and flood damage on rates of post-Katrina repopulation in New Orleans. Our main finding is that New Orleans neighborhoods have been experiencing modest increases in ethnoracial diversity as well as a retrenchment of socio-spatial inequalities, as measured by low diversity scores, low median household income levels, and high poverty rates. In addition to documenting the objective indicators of “recovery”, we draw attention to the socially constructed nature of resilience. Based on interviews and ethnographic field observations, we investigate how resident constructions of resilience shape their views of the post-Katrina recovery process, provide a compelling and reassuring story of community revitalization, and convey a sense of collective power and control despite continued vulnerability to hazards and disasters.
Highlights
In recent years, urban scholars across the social and environmental sciences have focused much theoretical and empirical attention on understanding and explaining the connections between resilience and post-disaster recovery and rebuilding [1,2,3,4,5]
Informed by theoretical and empirical studies of social-ecological resilience, and based on a multi-method analysis of several data sources, we examine the ways in which post-disaster repopulation outcomes connect with social inequalities and ethnoracial diversity, using a case study of recovery outcomes in post-Katrina New Orleans
Our goal is to investigate the influence of ethnoracial diversity and social inequality on post-disaster recovery outcomes in the city
Summary
Urban scholars across the social and environmental sciences have focused much theoretical and empirical attention on understanding and explaining the connections between resilience and post-disaster recovery and rebuilding [1,2,3,4,5]. Informed by theoretical and empirical studies of social-ecological resilience, and based on a multi-method analysis of several data sources, we examine the ways in which post-disaster repopulation outcomes connect with social inequalities and ethnoracial diversity, using a case study of recovery outcomes in post-Katrina New Orleans. A detailed measurement of Katrina flood depth conducted by FEMA on 2 September 2005 was handled in a similar fashion, for example, by back-aggregating the vectorized postings of flood depth and averaging them within each Year-2000 blockgroup This process provided a sound metric of level of damage, since the vast majority of Katrina destruction came from flood rather than wind, and the deeper the water, the greater the damage. The advantage of combining quantitative and qualitative data is that it provides a way of examining, in detail, the post-disaster recovery and transformation of a city, neighborhood, or series of neighborhoods that could be difficult to infer from one data source alone
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