Violence over New Orleans redevelopment

By Darren Weeks

I see from Dennis' posts that the protests have become violent in New Orleans over the destruction of genuinely "affordable" housing there.

The AP is reporting that the New Orleans city council has unanimously voted to demolish 4,500 public housing units which would render a number of people homeless and probably force them from the city. Other media sources have stated that the intent is to replace those units with "mixed use" housing units, which is one of the buzz words for sustainable development. Under the guise of fighting "blight", they tear down the old and rebuild more upscale housing units, along with entertainment complexes, parks, etc.

Grant money has been flowing into New Orleans redevelopment efforts like a runaway locomotive, with celebrities like Brad Pitt donating big money to build sustainable housing in the lower 9th ward.

This latest incident is just another example of countless ones that can be cited of how the mandates don't exist for sustainable development, yet they plunge forward against the wishes and interests of the people. Wasn't "democracy" supposed to mean "the people" have a voice in government?

Sustainable development is about making a ton of money and power for a few, while victimizing those whom it is supposed to protect.

None of this would have been possible, of course, had it not been for the disaster that had been created there. The hurricane didn't cause the levies to fail. The levies were blown. Just like the Sumatra tsunami which took place at the end of 2004, they needed the crisis to facilitate the order.

As was the case in the tsunami devastated region, they are free in New Orleans to rebuild in a sustainable way.

Keep in mind the words of the report, Sustainable Development and Natural Hazards Mitigation (pdf),

...one of the roadblocks to implementation is the fact that much of the land within local jurisdictions has already been developed according to practices and traditions that are far from sustainable... the time immediately following a natural disaster provides a community with a unique window of opportunity for inserting an ethic of sustainability....

Could it be any clearer that they are working the Plan?