Title: Intervenciones Estratégicas Hacia un Futuro Resiliente
Client: International Community Foundation (ICF) and Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) – 2015
Sparked by the landfall of Hurricane Odile (Sep 2014) on the city of La Paz, this rapid analysis identified the impact of the hurricane and served as a catalyst to develop a set of specific strategies to help the city develop towards a more resilient future. The damage caused by the hurricane on the city was assessed through a series of economic analyses, as well as a community survey. The second part of the evaluation relied on prior hazard vulnerability assessments (realized by local agencies and prior GeoAdaptive work in the region), in addition to a spatial vulnerability evaluation of the communities in La Paz. These inputs were used to identify the inherently susceptible areas of the city and help focus the final set of actions. As a result of the efforts of this project a set of city-wide strategies and actions have been identified for the short, medium and long term that will directly address the existing challenges put forth and guide the city to grow, adapt and be more resilient when faced with future adversity.
Using the landfall of Hurricane Odile in September 2014 as a starting point, the probabilistic risk assessment identified the intensity of different hazards (floods, hurricanes and increasing temperatures), vulnerabilities and impacts experienced by the city and its inhabitants.
Several studies of vulnerability to climate change have been conducted for the city of La Paz, as part of the platform of “Emerging and Sustainable Cities” and others academic studies examining the possible occurrence of natural hazards. These studies were used as a starting point for the development of this project and analysis components.
This study aims to understand the issues that exacerbate the vulnerability of the city, in order to identify actions to reduce the risk factors, while at the same time increasing the long term welfare of the population.
This study represents a spatial assessment of urban resilience. The added value of this study lies in its spatial dimension and the fact that it assesses both social and physical resilience conditions, such as municipal infrastructure. In this process, a first assessment was developed specifically considering spatial resilience management capabilities and adaptation, response actions and reconstruction of various sectors, which has enabled more accurate definition of the priorities and specific actions, improving the potential to build resilience in the city and create a more sustainable future.
Currently urban planning and governance is transitioning towards a science-oriented activity. The science of cities is emerging as a new field in professional disciplines and academic research. Cities have become objects of study where natural laws can be discovered and applied. In an era where information is freely floating and automatically generated, new methods for levering big-data—such as data-mining, and citizen or crowd sourcing through social media—are critical information inputs for designing better and updated urban policies. Through its R+D branch, GeoAdaptive devotes considerable resources in developing computational methods and models to harness data and extracts meaningful insights for a precise, inclusive, and intelligent urban development.
Climate change is a fundamental aspect of the current urban agenda. It requires the identification of vulnerabilities to natural hazards and the effects of climate change across urban landscapes and communities. GeoAdaptive’s approach integrates the understanding of hazard dynamics, vulnerabilities, and probable human and material losses to develop concrete strategies that increase the resilience of a city today and in the future. Moreover, social-resilience and adaptive-capacity indicators can be created in collaboration with stakeholders through an innovative mainstreaming approach that aids the implementation and monitoring of strategies.
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Green and open spaces offer more than aesthetic values to the urban system, as they can provide critical ecosystem services, thus contributing to the wellbeing and resiliency of communities. Green infrastructure planning and design can help to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards by integrating mitigation and adaptation strategies in urban landscapes. Along with the development of responsive green networks, public space can be designed to offer improved amenities and increased accessibility. GeoAdaptive has developed methods to effectively incorporate climate science and hazard modeling with green infrastructure planning and design.
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Smart growth incorporates concepts of inclusive urban development, such as transit-oriented development and mixed-use zoning, which bring together residential uses with services, infrastructure, amenities, and jobs. Understanding the dynamic nature of real estate and the socioeconomic fabric is key to helping urban governments to develop sound policies that foster affordable and integrated neighborhoods. Through its urban analytics toolset, GeoAdaptive deploys territorial intelligence to plan and design sustainable and inclusive cities.
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Thinking about the long-term is fundamental for the development of effective and impactful policies that are also able to adapt to probable changes. Understanding future change allows for smart budgeting and phasing of investment to deliver solutions that are proactive instead of reactive. Instead of traditional planning, GeoAdaptive embraces strategic scenario planning, which has the capacity to deliver solutions that can respond to uncertainty. We assist our clients in developing probabilistic scenarios in a participatory way and translating them into future representations of a responsive territory or city.
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Sustainable mobility requires an integrated planning approach that brings together infrastructure, transport planning, and land use planning. Despite increasing levels of urban mobility, access to amenities, services, and workplaces has not increased in the same fashion. GeoAdaptive has conducted extensive research in developing projects to pursue sustainable urban mobility. Our method incorporates urban analytics to understand population movement dynamics together with land use planning and accessibility to urban services. With this approach, our projects have produced innovative and proactive recommendations for decision makers that can be effectively implemented within existing governance frameworks.
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The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals) emphasizes the need to create long-term objectives to address inequality. Income growth should not be considered the only measure and goal in achieving these objectives. Infrastructure, wages, social welfare policies, and inclusive opportunities are also noted as key contributors. By measuring and quantifying inequality GeoAdaptive can provide intelligence for the evaluation and improvement of programs and policies that promote social justice, and foster inclusive and holistic social development.
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