The Role of Public Engagement in Infrastructure Adaptation Processes

Abstract

Climate change poses significant challenges to communities and infrastructure, particularly in coastal areas. Rising sea levels and increased storm intensity and frequency result in submergence, flooding, and coastal erosion. As these impacts are expected to worsen in the coming years, coastal communities become more vulnerable to storm surge and flooding during hurricanes. Consequently, coastal communities must respond on a routine basis and adapt to these risks for long-term resilience. Adaptation is essential for ensuring infrastructure sustainability, resilience, and operation. Therefore, addressing these challenges posed by climate change on infrastructure systems and achieving successful adaptation will require all stakeholders' collaboration, including those affected. Despite the importance of public engagement in the infrastructure adaptation process, there is a knowledge gap in understanding public perceptions, attitudes, and responses related to infrastructure adaptation due to a lack of empirical findings and integrative theoretical frameworks for public engagement in the infrastructure adaptation process. To advance our understanding of the importance of involving the public in the infrastructure adaptation processes, my dissertation builds on the body of literature by addressing these gaps.

This analysis uses empirical evidence collected through a survey and case studies of two large metropolitan coastal areas directly facing climate change impacts, Miami-Dade County, FL, and Harris County, TX. Data were collected to examine how people in these areas perceive water infrastructure systems in terms of risk, physical condition, and adaptation and how they respond to it in terms of support for adaptation strategies and willingness to participate in the adaptation process. Results suggest the following: 1) public risk perception impacts the perception of infrastructure condition, 2) perception of institutional capacity of infrastructure adaptation as well as attitudes toward investment and development are influenced by risk perception and perception of infrastructure conditions and influence public support for adaptation strategies and willingness to participate in the adaptation process, 3) the significant role of different factors on public perceptions, attitudes, and responses including flood experience, climate change beliefs, knowledge, service satisfaction, motivations, and socio-demographic characteristics. These results provide a deeper understanding of the public’s engagement in infrastructure adaptation and emphasize its importance.

This research contributes to the infrastructure resilience and sustainability literature by integrating public engagement into the infrastructure adaptation process and drawing linkages between public perceptions, attitudes, and responses throughout all stages of the adaptation process. Hence, the findings of this research could lead decisionmakers to improve the effectiveness and transparency of the infrastructure adaptation process.