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Mississippi Governor Kicks-Off Rebuilding Effort

With the forum, the governor hopes to achieve community consensus for complex planning efforts.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 10/11/2005 12:00:00 AM

Leading Miami architect-planner Andres Duany will spearhead a national team of 100 architects, planners, development experts for a post-Katrina planning effort. Enlisted by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, and organized by the San Francisco-based non profit Congress for the New Urbanism, the team will meet in Biloxi, Mississippi today.

Duany will collaborate with local colleagues, elected officials, and other citizens in the region for over six days of intensive workshops, dubbed the Mississippi Renewal Forum. The forum will produce planning and architectural tools that can guide local and state officials in rebuilding 11 cities in three counties along the entire length of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

"Governor Barbour has made it clear that he wants the people of Mississippi to come out of this stronger than ever," says John Norquist, president and CEO of CNU, a membership organization of 2500 professionals committed to adapting traditional city and town planning principles to today's community building challenges. The collaborative meetings are meant to achieve community consensus in the complex planning efforts. Among the participants in the forum are experts in environmental protection, road and transit planning, social issues, economic development, and the design of residences, neighborhoods, and town centers. The group will also include urban designers and town planners who have devoted years to studying the architecture and layout of traditional Southern towns. "What we do now," says Governor Barbour, "will decide what the Coast will look like in 10 years, 20 years, and beyond.”

In addition to sessions examining multi-jurisdictional issues in South Mississippi, individual workshops will focus on the communities of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, D'Iberville, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point, and Pascagoula.

While the logistics and some expenses will be covered in part by a grant from the Knight Foundation, the CNU professionals are donating much of their time at greatly reduced rates, or for free in many cases.

Follow the Mississippi Renewal Forum online.