Date of Award

12-2010

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.U.R.P.

Degree Program

Urban and Regional Planning

Department

Planning and Urban Studies

Major Professor

Nance, Earthea

Second Advisor

Nelson, Marla

Third Advisor

Fields, Willard

Abstract

This thesis explores the impact that the petrochemical industry has had on the built environment of Norco, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Previous scholars have suggested that heavy industry in Norco consumes a majority of the Mississippi River's natural levee, which is the most elevated and flood resistant land in the town. In order to test these observations, the author of this thesis has collected parcel-level land use data in Norco to determine the flood hazard and topographical characteristics of these various land uses. Spatial calculations, run using Geographic Information System software, have determined that heavy industrial land uses in Norco consume a vast majority of the Mississippi River's natural levee.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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