What was the historical environmental impact of urbanization on the US South?

by Fournication

I'm a current undergraduate history major at a mid-sized liberal arts college. For my environmental history class, we're supposed to produce a research paper. I'd ideally like to examine how urbanization impacted the environment within the Southern United States, specifically Birmingham, New Orleans, and Nashville.

Is this a worthy paper topic to pursue?

ahump

It definitely is a worthy topic to pursue. Any reason you are looking at those specific cities? were those the largest manufacturing cities of the era?