Fragmented cosmopolitanism in the southern borderlands: the socio-environmental histories of New Orleans and Odessa

Abstract From the shores of the Black Sea to the banks of the Mississippi River, more than mere distance separated the nineteenth-century port cities of Odessa and New Orleans. Although these ports emerged in distinct political and geographical settings, a comparative analysis reveals striking parallels between these two southern metropolises, each positioned at the territorial edge of continental empires. This article aims to examine the common challenges these cities encountered in their development, the factors that divided their cosmopolitan populations and how socio-environmental vulnerabilities contributed to their urban fragmentation.