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New Orleans' City Park has been awarded the American Planning Association's 2010 National Planning Achievement Award for a Hard-Won Victory, recognizing the extraordinary efforts of the city's residents to rebuild the historic park in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. WRT's City Park Vision Plan for the 21st Century, which had been adopted five months prior to the hurricane, was cited in the award as "...the organizing feature for the recovery efforts."

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, WRT was asked to prepare the Action Plan to Rebuild New Orleans. The Plan established the physical framework and neighborhood-based planning process for repopulating the city in an equitable and cost-effective manner. As part of its post-hurricane work in the city, the firm also designed City Park's 26-acre Big Lake and Meadow area, which includes a lake hand dug in 1898 in the shape of Lake Pontchartrain. The design integrates picnic groves, festival grounds, a water plaza, a boat dock, and other features around the lake, which is located at the major Park entrance next to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The Big Lake and Meadow opened recently to joyous and heavy use.