This volume of APA's Delta Urbanism series traces the development of New Orleans from precolonial times to post-Katrina realities, in the context of the deltaic plain on which it lies. The book describes the underlying physical terrain and covers the various transformations humans have made to it: site selection, settlement, urbanization, population, expansion, drainage, protection, exploitation, devastation, and recovery. What New Orleans has experienced foretells what similar cities will be tackling in years to come.

New Orleans, LA: Tulane University geographer Richard Campanella maps and analyzes the physical and human geography of New Orleans and coastal Louisiana.