A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation
Uniting Design, Economics, and Policy
312 pages
6 x 9
35 figures
Book Description
Tens of millions of Americans are at risk from sea level rise, increased tidal flooding, and intensifying storms. The design and policy decisions that have shaped coastal areas are in desperate need of updates to help communities better adapt to a changing climate. A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation identifies a bold new research and policy agenda and provides implementable options for coastal communities.
In this book, coastal adaptation experts discuss the interrelated challenges facing communities experiencing sea level rise and increasing storm impacts. These issues extend far beyond land use planning into housing policy, financing for public infrastructure, insurance, fostering healthier coastal ecosystems, and more. Deftly addressing far-reaching problems from cleaning up contaminated, abandoned sites, to changes in drinking water composition, chapters give a clear-eyed view of how we might yet chart a course for thriving coastal communities. They offer a range of climate adaptation policies that could protect coastal communities against increasing risk, while preserving the economic value of these locations, their natural environments, and their community and cultural values. Lessons are drawn from coastal communities around the United States to present equitable solutions. The book provides tools for evaluating necessary tradeoffs to think more comprehensively about the future of our coastal communities.
Coastal adaptation will not be easy, but planning for it is critical to the survival of many communities. A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation will inspire innovative and cross-disciplinary thinking about coastal policy at the state and local level while providing actionable, realistic policy and planning options for adaptation professionals and policymakers.
Review Quotes
"Coastal vulnerability and adaptation are so, so complex, and are often treated in narrow, economistic ways that underplay the roles of politics, culture, infrastructure, and resistance by private interests. I’m excited to see this partnership of design schools with business schools and their taking up of such a range of issues. This is a breakthrough volume."
Timmons Roberts, Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology, Brown University and coauthor of "Power in a Warming World"
"This collection provides a range of ideas and stories grounded in present systems and structures. It identifies challenges and recommendations that will help support early transitions in the next phase of coastal adaptation planning, policy, and practice."
Kristin Baja, Programs Director, Climate Resilience, Urban Sustainability Directors Network
Contents
Foreword \ Jeff Goodell
Introduction: The Changing Risks of Coastal Communities \ Carolyn Kousky, Billy Fleming, and Alan M. Berger
Part I: Designing for Equitable Resilience
Chapter 1. A Comprehensive Framework for Coastal Flood-Risk Reduction: Charting a Course Toward Resiliency \ Samuel Brody, Kayode Atoba, Wesley Highfield, Antonia Sebastian, Russell Blessing, William Mobley, and Laura Stearns
Chapter 2. Designing for Resilience in Rich Coastal Cities (and Beyond) \ Matthijs Bouw
Chapter 3. For Whom Do We Account in Climate Adaptation? \ Karen M'Closkey and Keith VanDerSys
Chapter 4. Preparation, Adaptation, and Retreat in Miami Beach and Buras \ Joyce Coffee and Sarah Dobie
Chapter 5. Head of Bay Coastal Resilience: Adaptive Design for Jamaica Bay, New York \ Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Rennie Jones, Paul Lewis, and Guy Nordenson
Part II: Adapting Public Policy and Finance
Chapter 6. Public Funding of Coastal Adaptation: A Review of US Public Sources—and the Case for More \ Carlos Martín
Chapter 7. Insurance and Coastal Adaptation \ Carolyn Kousky
Chapter 8. Environmental Impact Bonds: An Innovation in Financing Climate Adaptation \ Shannon Cunniff, Benjamin Cohen, and Carolyn duPont
Chapter 9. Adapting Coastal Drinking Water to Rising Seas \ Allison Lassiter
Chapter 10. Take Out the Trash When You Leave: Cleaning Up Properties Abandoned to Rising Seas \ Thomas Ruppert
Chapter 11. Flux Zoning: From End-State Planning to Zoning for Uncertainty \ Fadi Masoud and David Vega-Barachowitz
Chapter 12. Coastal Urbanism: Designing the Future Waterfront \ Rafi Segal and Susannah Drake
Contributors
Index
Events
Coastal Cities: Ground Zero for Climate Adaptation and Resilience
Coastal Cities: Ground Zero for Climate Adaptation and Resilience
Wednesday, 23 June 2021 - 10:00am
Join the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program and Island Press for a roundtable discussion on coastal city resilience and the launch of a new book, A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation: United Design, Economics, and Policy. The event will bring together some of the best thinkers and practitioners engaged in building resilient coastal cities both at home and abroad. The conversation will engage the virtual audience and focus on successful approaches to develop comprehensive climate adaptation actions in coastal cities and to direct financial resources to safeguard people, their livelihoods, and to build a more resilient future.
Located at the interface between land and sea, coastal cities are centers of innovation and economic productivity, concentrating large numbers of people and assets. However, they are also at the forefront of climate change. Rising sea levels, increasing storm intensity, and warmer temperatures stress ecosystems upon which millions depend, degrade outdated infrastructure, and upend economic stability.
Climate risks also compound existing pressures. In many cities around the globe, rapid urbanization is outpacing infrastructure development –including housing, waste management, bridges, and roads. These factors also exacerbate social and health inequities. As climate change impacts continue to grow and in a post-COVID environment, governments, businesses, and international financial institutions need to consider climate risk across social, economic and ecological issues to design comprehensive solutions and unlock additional financial resources.
