Three Hundred Years of Human Geography in New Orleans
Published: Apr 05, 2018
This brief discusses what historical settlement patterns imply for future prosperity and sustainability and includes maps that depict the increasing segregation of New Orleans and the New Orleans metro from 1910 to 2010.
Introduction
Many topics in The New Orleans Prosperity Index: Tricentennial Collection touch upon the common thread of human geography: where and how we have occupied this “deltaic” metropolis, and what those historical settlement patterns imply for future prosperity and sustainability—or alternately, hardship and risk.
Key to understanding New Orleans’ human geography is that adjective, “deltaic.” This region is a prime example of a river-dominated (fluvial) delta, in which the Mississippi’s enormous deposition of sediment overwhelmed the ability of Gulf currents to sweep it away.
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Citations and sources can be found in the PDF copy of the report.