Coastal threatsHazard mitigation, recovery plans for coastal cities
The field of urban planning is gaining interest as cities around the world are facing increased exposure to weather-related risks and hazards ranging from sea level rise and flooding to temperature build-up and urban heat island effect. A recently completed five-year research project examined 175 hazard mitigation plans adopted by counties and municipalities along the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Northwest coastlines. These local governments are required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to adopt such plans to be eligible for pre-disaster and post-disaster mitigation funds. The National Research Council concluded that land use strategies that guide growth away from hazard areas are the most promising long-term solution to reducing risk; yet, land use strategies are rarely used. Instead, mitigation plans emphasize other mitigation approaches like levees, elevation of buildings and emergency management.
The field of urban planning is gaining interest as cities around the world, including nearby Houston, are facing increased exposure to weather-related risks and hazards ranging from sea level rise and flooding to temperature build-up and urban heat island effect.
Philip Berke, professor of landscape architecture and urban planning at Texas A&M University, recently completed a five-year research project that examined 175 hazard mitigation plans adopted by counties and municipalities along the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Northwest coastlines. These local governments are required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to adopt such plans to be eligible for pre-disaster and post-disaster mitigation funds.
According to the study, hazard mitigation plans in cities such as Houston are weak and underfunded. The plans are isolated from broader decisions about the location, density and design of urban development.
The National Research Council concluded that land use strategies that guide growth away from hazard areas are the most promising long-term solution to reducing risk; yet, land use strategies are rarely used. Instead, mitigation plans emphasize other mitigation approaches like levees, elevation of buildings and emergency management.
Texas A&M notes that, furthermore, cities frequently rely on development policies that support housing and economic development in disadvantaged neighborhoods that are located in hazardous areas. Such well-intentioned policies that do not integrate mitigation measures ensure that poor neighborhoods will be flooded again and forced further into poverty.
“Losses are going to get worse as time goes on – catastrophic disaster events are going to become more the rule than the exception – and we’re just starting to see that,” Berke said. “Climate is involved, but it also has much to do with land use activities, and where we locate and how we design our cities. We can’t continue to place heavy reliance on engineering our way out of these situations because it’s not sustainable.”
As the toll of human suffering, especially for those who cannot afford to manage the risks associated with these disasters, and the federal deficit continue to increase, and the floodplains continue to widen, change is imperative, Berke said.
