Baton Rouge could be a leader in the field of green infrastructure, teaching other municipalities about sustainable development and using natural resources like parks and bayous to help drain stormwater and prevent flooding, says Camille Manning-Broome, executive director of the Center for Planning Excellence.
Instead, it continues to allow development in low-lying areas and flood plains, potentially endangering residents and properties, she says.
In a lunchtime speech to the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, Broome discussed how climate change and the hotter, wetter weather it is bringing nationwide poses particular challenges for south Louisiana, which is further threatened by rising sea levels and coastal land loss.
“We need to mitigate and adapt,” Manning-Broome says. “We need to change the way we live and build. We need to invest in adaptation measures. We need to question: How do we go from the status quo to being a well-adapted city of the future?”
Smart planning is one way to start making that change, she said, pointing to Hoboken, New Jersey, as an example of a city that has done just that.
Hoboken was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and received more than $200 million from the federal government to help address resiliency.
“The money was just enough to build a floodwall around the city,” Manning-Broome says. “But that’s not what they did. Instead, they developed a strategic system of green spaces and integrated flood protection into their urban landscape.”
New Orleans also has emerged as an example of a city that is adapting to climate change and greater risk, “rethinking the city’s relationship with water,” she says.
“This is a space Baton Rouge could own,” she says. “We could innovate in this space.”
But that will require having the political will to stand up to developers who want to build in vulnerable areas and pave over natural watersheds. It will also require using data to make smart decisions and to change existing zoning codes to reflect new priorities.
“It is really about getting people to the table and making this a priority,” she says.
