ABSTRACT
Introduction .................................................................................................... 226 Social Vulnerability and Disasters ............................................................... 227
From Vulnerability to Social Vulnerability ............................................ 227 Natural Disasters: A Social Construction ............................................... 231
The History and the Different Realities of the Lower Ninth Ward ......... 233 The Historical Evolution of the Lower Ninth Ward ............................. 234
Social and Cultural Realities of the Neighborhood ......................... 235 Physical and Environmental Realities of the Neighborhood ......... 238 The Economic and Political Realities of the Neighborhood ........... 239 The Differences and Disparities within the Neighborhood ........... 240
Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005, New Orleans and, more specifically, its most devastated neighborhood, the Lower Ninth Ward (LNW), have been the topics of many publications and research projects. This neighborhood has gained a lot of attention since these events took place, some of it positive and some negative. The LNW was the hardest hit by the hurricanes; it served as the “poster child” and turned into a tourist destination for middle-and upper-class Americans, mainly due to the very slow rebuilding process there. However, it also attracted people and organizations that were genuinely interested in rebuilding a better place for the residents who suffered and lost the most. It is a neighborhood with a unique trait and identity, but also with multiple contradictions and controversies, which makes it an even more interesting case to investigate. New Orleans is a neighborhood-oriented city, where each neighborhood identifies itself separately and where residents identify with their individual neighborhood. This became an issue in the rebuilding process after the city was hit by Hurricane Katrina, especially since 9 years after the calamity, the city and particularly the LNW are still suffering from the effects of the hurricane: blight, vacant properties, smaller population, uneven rebuilding, and much more (WhoData, 2009).*
This chapter does not focus on the events of August 29, 2005, but rather on the events between the creation of the neighborhood and that day in order to better understand the past and ongoing struggles and obstacles faced by the neighborhood and its residents that led to a partially rebuilt neighborhood several years after the hurricane. Why is the rebuilding process so slow in the LNW 9 years after Katrina? By looking into the historical evolution of the neighborhood, we realize that the hurricane was merely the triggering point that uncovered the real vulnerability rooted in the historical buildup of the city and the neighborhood.
