New Orleans (Louisiana - USA)
NEW ORLEANS’ RESILIENCE CHALLENGE
From Hurricane Katrina to frequent “boil water” advisories, New Orleans has unique experience with major urban emergencies. New Orleans has had unique experience in dealing with and recovering from major urban emergencies. From Hurricanes Katrina and Isaac to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to the city’s frequent boil water advisories,
New Orleans has learned important lessons about what it takes to become a vibrant, resilient city that serves all its residents — particularly its most vulnerable. Related Article![]() For generations, cities have proudly sported nicknames that celebrate their industry, culture or geography. The Motor City. Sin City. The Mile High City. And, of course, here in New Orleans: the Crescent City. But with your inspiring commitment to transformation in the decade after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is earning a new nickname: the Resilient City.
Due to the triple threats of urbanization, globalization and climate change, ours is an era when crisis has become the new normal, and New Orleans has proved itself a model for the challenges cities face. Those challenges might come in the form of storms, structural failures, civil conflict and cyber-attacks. It could be a flood or a drought, an eroding tax base or an eroding shoreline. But not every disruption is destined to become disaster. Problems cascade into crises when municipal officials, business owners and community leaders haven't done the proper planning or aren't integrated in their responses. New Orleans and cities worldwide are now thinking differently about how they operate, moving from siloed approaches to cross-departmental and cross-sectoral collaboration. To manage these disparate activities, New Orleans is one of the first cities to hire a new leader -- a chief resilience officer (CRO) -- whose job is to keep everyone singing off the same song sheet. As New Orleans' first resilience officer, Jeff Hebert will work closely with Mayor Mitch Landrieu and serve as the conductor for a disparate orchestra of stakeholders. Hebert is a city planner by trade who returned to New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches. Ever since, he's been helping his hometown not only survive, but thrive. This week he joins a talented cohort of 25 CROs and city resilience officials from across the world, at the first-ever CRO summit -- held here in New Orleans. The number of CROs will grow to 100 in the next three years, as part of 100 Resilient Cities, an initiative pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. A CRO is a new position in government responsible for bringing together key members of their cities, both in government and across all sectors of society, to create and implement a resilience strategy that takes into account the city's distinct vulnerabilities and strengths with a particular focus on low-income communities. As part of a unique, collaborative network, CROs share experiences with one another about what works and what doesn't. For example, New Orleans and Medellin, Colombia, are already learning from each other about innovative strategies that bring down crime rates and build more cohesive communities. This new position represents a shift from government as usual: from a paradigm of reacting and responding to one of prevention and returns. We call this "the resilience dividend," because investing in resilience offers returns in times of crisis and in times of calm, bringing more streamlined citizen services, stronger safety nets, new kinds of goods and services that yield jobs and greater collaboration between the public and private sectors. This is happening already in New Orleans. In 2013, the New Orleans Business Alliance, a public-private nonprofit body established by Mayor Landrieu, released a plan to drive economic growth through 2018 by strengthening existing industries, while ensuring opportunities for growth in three important fields: bioinnovation and health services, creative digital media and sustainable industries. By developing its economic base, New Orleans is becoming a hotbed for business, creativity and innovation, and a magnet for talent -- all of which will help the city respond more effectively after crisis and make it a better place to live in good times, as well. Here's another example. Louisiana loses an acre of land every hour -- and not just any land: The wetlands that protect the coast from catastrophic storm surge, which threatens public health and safety. Through 100 Resilient Cities, New Orleans' new CRO will be able to access a bigger and better toolbox to address these challenges, thanks to platform partners who will provide analytical tools, technical expertise and innovative financial products. This resilience mindset will be the key ingredient to New Orleans' success over the next decade. Your new CRO and his counterparts around the world will make sure that no matter what the future brings, the Resilient City will be ready -- and the world is following your lead. Judith Rodin is the president of The Rockefeller Foundation and author of "The Resilience Dividend: Being Strong in a World Where Things Go Wrong." |
CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER
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