The destruction of New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the levees was an experience of horror and revelation. Katrina’s differential effects and the hugely disproportionate responses by and for different communities laid bare not simply a peculiar U. S. urban anatomy; they exposed a simmering crisis in the nature of planning itself. New Orleans Under Reconstruction, a conference organized by Carol McMichael Reese, Michael Sorkin, and Anthony Fontenot, will take place on October 23 and 24, 2009, at Tulane University.

The conference will examine the aftermath of Katrina and New Orleans’ struggles with rebuilding as deeply symptomatic of larger issues of contemporary planning and urbanism. The organizers have gathered an impressive and diverse group of local and national planners, architects, landscape architects, engineers, activists, and academics not only to present current work in New Orleans, but also to advance debate about and action toward the resurgence of the city. The timing of these debates is all the more crucial as the city moves rapidly toward a mayoral race.