cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/12735795
Hi! I’m hoping to hear people’s thoughts on what my city, New Orleans, would look like in a perfect solarpunk world.
Most solarpunk art (which I love to see!) Seems to be praire/plains or forest inspired, and definitely one of the issues we have that I want to avoid is people bring environmental and ecological policies and thoughts from those two biomes to other ones (because they’re seen as kind of default).
So, New Orleans! Lots of interesting challenges to address, including:
-tornados (so we need safe rooms and to withstand them
-hurricanes (there’s probably no way to withstand these, instead maybe something that’s kind of designed to be refixed once a year, since that’s what happens anyways)
-flooding, both hurricane-associated and flash-flooding throughout the year (definitely no basements, honestly maybe no first or second floors either).
-extreme heat (feels-like gets to 120F/50C at least a couple days a year)
-extreme cold (not nearly as bad as the heat, but can be brutal enough that they turn schools into extra shelter for our unhoused for about a week each year)
-end of the river (we’re at the end of the Mississippi, so we’re definitely more silt than soil)
-swamp (New Orleans is sinking, our ground isn’t particularly stable)
-agriculture (I’m really not sure farming is a great idea. It’s hard to find local crops that grow in the wetlands–even lists of indigenous foodways focus more on upstate, where traditional planting would work. Can we farm in the wetlands without turning it into a farm?)
I am imagining the swamp almost like a flooded forest with stands of mangroves and intentionally managed, not over populated fish farms. Kelp farming is another possibility and if there is enough ground water pressure to keep the saltwater out, maybe even rice paddies.
Houses that built with dolphin pylons (build a water tight shell that is partially submerged and not attached to the foundation conventionally but on pylons that allow the whole house to rise up and down with the tide and sea level change. Do away with streets entirely until you get to semi-stable dry land and use sustainably powered boats for travel.
These houses have their temperatures moderated by the water they are in. (Which could be a bad thing as I recall the ocean has been at bathwater temperature recently