The Politics of Paradigm Shift: Examining Advocacy Coalitions and the Shift towards Resilient Streets in New Orleans

A paradigm shift appears to be underway in transportation where policymakers are increasingly open to more sustainable solutions that emphasize improved health, safety, and climate outcomes. This paradigm shift is, however, incomplete and pits the highway planning establishment against new sustainable transport approaches. The movement to integrate resilient streets that combine safe active transportation facilities with green infrastructure is at the forefront of this paradigm shift. In this paper, we analyse the politics of the paradigm shift and de fine the extent to which a resilient streets movement may be forming. We build a literature review to define resilient streets and trace the policy landscape of the paradigm shift. We then use a case study of New Orleans to be er understand the role and functions of policy entrepreneurs in the development of sustainable transportation and drainage infrastructure. We find that the paradigm shift to resilient streets is incomplete in New Orleans. We do, however, find a growing network of advocacy coalitions that have begun to pilot examples of what a new resilient system might look like and highlight the importance of connected policy networks that are needed to conceive and push these changes forward.