Enhancing Community Resilience to Flooding through the Spatial Evaluation of Plans, Policies, and Regulations
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Date
2019-12-03
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Abstract
Flooding is among the most deadly and destructive of all-natural hazards, both in the United States and around the world. As human and economic costs from flooding continue to rise – driven by a changing climate and increasing urbanization, as well as local land use decisions – communities are being forced to reevaluate their planning and development management practices. Land use planning is frequently cited by academic and government sources as one of the most important factors in mitigating (or exacerbating) flooding hazards. Communities that plan for growth and management in a coordinated, proactive way are shown to be more resilient—with infrastructure that continues to function during and after a hazard event; critical facilities and residential communities located away from the most hazardous areas; building standards based on actual hazard risk; and natural environments prized and protected for the critical ecosystem services they provide.
Unfortunately, integrative planning is currently the exception, rather than the rule, in many places, especially in the U.S., and unwise development persists. A single community is often guided by multiple plan documents constructed by various ‘siloed’ departments and organizations, each in pursuit of its own interests and goals. The resulting network of plans – which typically includes comprehensive, hazard mitigation, and various sector- and place-specific plans – guides future land use and development patterns, including in hazardous areas. Poor coordination of these documents can lead to conflicting policy guidance, reduced efficacy, and increased hazard vulnerability. Research also suggests that community resilience can be affected by policies or recommendations located anywhere in this network of plans, including in documents seemingly unrelated to hazards.
Emerging concepts and techniques focused on a spatial understanding of plan, policy, and regulatory coordination present a compelling new direction for research and practice aimed at improving integration and, ultimately, strengthening community resilience. This work consists of three related studies, designed to continue the development of such approaches and push them into new conceptual and methodological territory. Results suggest that the spatial evaluation of plans, policies, and regulations has significant potential as a means of enhancing community resilience to flooding.
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Plan integration, flooding, natural hazards, spatial evaluation