Hot off the press (yes, I’m aging myself with that phrase): Achieving Hazard-Resilient Coastal & Waterfront Smart Growth.
What is it? Last summer, NOAA, EPA and a few state Sea Grant programs assembled a mess of experts on smart growth and a mess of experts on natural hazards and got the two to talk about ways in which these two efforts are working together, ways in which they’re not, and how one might begin to bridge the gaps. Somebody took some really thorough notes.
Example of the sort of conflicts they tackled? Concentrating growth around existing development (a principal of smart growth) is fine and well, unless that area is prone to hazards. In cases when it is, a community might be better of abandoning existing development and building on new land.
What was the output? A handy 24-page overview of the confluence of these two efforts, including approaches that federal agencies, state partners, academics, organizations, and practitioners working on these issues could consider to improve integration of the smart growth and hazard mitigation strategies.
You can (and should) download a PDF of Report from Roundtable on Achieving Hazard-Resilient Coastal & Waterfront Smart Growth here.