SGER: Katrina and the Built Environment: Spatial and Social Impacts

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Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are likely to have long-term effects on the cities and towns of the Gulf Coast. This project identifies which communities were most affected, which will be rebuilt and how they will be different from before. It will integrate remotely sensed ecological data with environmental hazard information as well as demographic and socioeconomic data to understand the social and ecological vulnerabilities of impacted communities. By studying which population groups lived in different areas, it will identify with precision the differential impacts of the disaster. It will also follow the progress of post-disaster adjustment, identifying new configurations of what are considered safe or desirable areas, choices about public infrastructure investments, and locational decisions made by past and potential new residents. In addition to the demographic and sociological aspects of displacement and rebuilding, the project will incorporate perspectives from environmental science and ecology. It will study how the physical environment, particularly wetlands and patterns of groundcover, may have protected some areas, as well as how the post-hurricane environment affects redevelopment. A scientific understanding of the effects of these hurricanes will be valuable for public policymaking, both in the short term (investments in the region over the next several years) and in the long term (planning for the security of coastal zones). The project will also provide information that can be of use to future studies, including surveys of returning and relocated residents and risk assessments of other areas.