Andrews University students create new urban plan for Gulf Coast

Andrews University students recently created a new urban plan for a small community in Harrison County, Mississippi, that is experiencing significant growth in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Saucier, which has about 200 people in its village center, sits at the junction of Highway 49 from Gulfport and the new Highway 67 from Biloxi.

The plan anticipates the town population will rise to 3,000 to 5,000 residents living in four new neighborhoods, including two substantial mixed-use centers. The first center, consisting of 24 acres with two- to three-story flexible-use buildings, is moving forward with a landowner who wants to develop, says Assistant Professor Andrew von Maur, who headed a charrette team of architecture students. The students are also looking to channel growth on 110 acres near the highway junction that is expected to attract major retailers in the coming years. The Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District, a state agency, paid for the charrette, which was also sponsored by the Saucier Improvement Association. The students are calibrating the SmartCode for use in the area.

Saucier, which is 20 miles north of the coast, experienced only moderate damage from Katrina. It was not part of the Mississippi Renewal Forum, the huge planning charrette that took place during October 2005, which focused on coastal municipalities. But Saucier is in the path of residents and businesses moving north, and sewerage is expected to arrive within a few years. Harrison County officials, who have jurisdiction over the unincorporated community, were strongly influenced by the new urbanist ideas that came out of the Renewal Forum.