Asserting that the compact, walkable, diverse neighborhood is a model for the “energy-starved” future, Andrés Duany is heretical to some. But the New Urbanism advocate has turned his attention to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, and the public seems to be coming around. Armed with grant money from multiple benefactors, Duany is providing rebuilding and redesign plans for post-Katrina New Orleans, and, to the ire of some, for the Vieux Carre, which was largely unaffected by the hurricane.

While other planners and designers are proposing plans for parks and other neighborhoods, Duany lists safe streets, good schools, a working water supply, walkability and transit as the sort of citywide fundamentals that need to be addressed before those proposals are considered.

Duany is also encouraging city officials to enforce codes for such things as trash disposal, noise and litter in an effort to rid the “yellow ooze in the cracks” and beautify the city. While citizens seem to be catching on, Duany still has to convince city leaders—they’ll be the ones implementing his ideas.

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