Cities at Risk
Many cities along the Atlantic seaboard are at significant risk of [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/science/flooding-of-coast-caused-by-global-warming-has-already-begun.html?_r=0″ title=”being underwater in a few decades”]. Cities at risk include New Orleans, Miami, and on up the coast to include New York and Boston. Sea level rise [link url=”https://amuedge.com/sea-level-rise-could-impact-1-9-million-homes-in-united-states-alone/” title=”could impact 1.9 million homes”] in U.S. alone.
Many cities in the Pacific Northwest are facing an imminent (statistically speaking) [link url=”http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one” title=”earthquake in the near future”]. Cities at risk include Seattle and Portland. [link url=”https://amuedge.com/qa-the-big-one-a-pacific-northwest-megaquake/” title=”The Big One”] is coming — it’s just a matter of when.
Many cities in the Southwest are likely to [link url=”http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150212-megadrought-southwest-water-climate-environment/” title=”face crippling drought and water shortages”] in the not-so distant future. Cities at risk include Phoenix and Las Vegas. Currently, drought conditions [link url=”https://amuedge.com/drought-conditions-expected-to-worsen-in-majority-of-u-s/” title=”are expected to worsen”] in the majority of U.S.
Many cities across the U.S. are struggling with social justice and economic development issues, which threaten the traditional concept and accomplishment of the American dream. Cities at risk include … well, pretty much all of them.
Two Options
Cities basically have two options: Ignore what’s happening until it can’t be ignored any more, or plan early for the inevitable. There are many reasons why any given city selects one over the other, but really no good reasons for the “ignore” strategy.
After all, we are the profession of preparation. We are the profession of mitigation. And increasingly, we are the profession of adaptation.
Resiliency
These professional activities, when developed and implemented, fall under a general category of resiliency, or the ability to prepare for, recover from, and get on with life after any particular disruption.
Accordingly, great credit for foresight should be accorded to the Rockefeller Foundation, which pioneered what is called the [link url=”http://www.100resilientcities.org” title=”100 Resilient Cities”] initiative. Among other benefits, the initiative can provide you with guidance and best practices in the areas of:
- Identifying “chronic” stressors.
- Identifying “acute shock” stressors.
- The seven qualities of resilience.
- The role of a Chief Resilience Officer.
Homework
So here’s your homework assignment for the week: Google “resilient (city name).” Pick any Atlantic coast city to see how they’re doing against sea level rise. Pick any Pacific Northwest city to see how they’re doing with regard to earthquake preparation. Pick any Southwest city to see how they’re doing with regard to drought preparation. Pick Chicago or Detroit to see how they’re doing with regard to economic and social justice issues.
Pick your city. How is it doing? And by extension, how are YOU doing?
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