Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution

This paper examines the recovery planning process and framework after Hurricane Katrina (2005), the most destructive natural disaster in American history. Katrina's storm surge caused several different levee breaches in greater New Orleans, submerging eighty percent of the city, and causing more than 1,300 casualties. Herein four criteria were used to evaluate the early stage of recovery planning in New Orleans: 1) A clear future vision for recovery based on the lessons learned from the disaster, 2) Linking “individual recovery ” with “urban and neighborhood level physical recovery”, 3) Citizen participation, and 4) Planners ' leading roles. These criteria were established by reviewing previous papers on recovery planning from another urban disaster, the Great Hanshin Earthquake (1995). The characteristics of recovery planning in New Orleans based on the four criteria are as follows: 1) Development of a strategic planning framework with a clear vision, comprehensiveness of recovery goals, and pursuit of new urbanism in neighborhood level recovery, 2) Creation of a clustering program, which is proposed to encourage residents to rebuild in clusters at higher elevations, to help ensure vibrant neighborhoods and more efficient infrastructure costs in the context of a smalle