Date of Award
Fall 12-2012
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Program
Urban Studies
Department
Planning and Urban Studies
Major Professor
Dr. Pam Jenkins
Second Advisor
Dr. John Kiefer
Third Advisor
Dr. Renia Ehrenfeucht
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Shirley Laska
Fifth Advisor
Dr. D'Lane Compton
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify, analyze, and describe the social outcomes that may be affected by the environmental risks generated by infrastructure projects; to examine the ways in which vulnerability and exposure to hazards may increase risk in neighborhoods over time; and to examine the implications of addressing the exacerbation of exposure to natural hazards within the traditional environmental justice framework. The Industrial Canal and Lower Ninth Ward were selected as the subjects of this case study because the canal has existed on the perimeter of the neighborhood for nearly one century, isolating Lower Ninth Ward residents from the rest of New Orleans and significantly contributing to two catastrophic flood events.
The findings of the study are as follows: (1) the environmental risks associated with infrastructure projects can be magnified when imposed on an already vulnerable neighborhood, and may ultimately result in hazard events which cause displacement and disinvestment. Such consequences can have an impact on micro-level (individual and household) and macro-level (neighborhood) social outcomes; (2) vulnerability and exposure to hazards can initiate a pattern of increased risk that intensifies vulnerability to subsequent hazard events; and, finally, (3) the parallels between the causes and consequences of traditional environmental justice issues and the exacerbation of exposure to natural hazards implies that framing issues relative to natural hazards as matters of justice and articulating the social consequences of not mitigating such hazards can be an excellent way of educating stakeholders and lobbying for resources.
Recommended Citation
Graves, Jerry V. Jr., "Risk, Vulnerability, and Hazards: The Industrial Canal and the Lower Ninth Ward" (2012). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1557.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1557
Included in
Place and Environment Commons, Urban Studies Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons
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.