Building Climate Resilience: A Step-by-Step Community Audit
Communities are increasingly focused on preparing for the impacts of a changing climate. A practical approach to this challenge is a systematic ”climate adaptation audit” grounded in established urban planning principles. This audit provides a structured process for assessing vulnerabilities and developing actionable strategies for long-term resilience.
The audit begins with a thorough community assessment, utilizing resources like the Community Assessment Guide (
A key component of the audit involves applying the principles of New Urbanism to guide future progress. This includes evaluating whether growth should prioritize infill development within existing areas, expansion of existing towns, or the creation of entirely new, thoughtfully planned communities. Diagramming New Urbanist principles and their potential outcomes is crucial for enhancing resilience.
The audit then focuses on translating these principles into concrete policy. This involves establishing place-based policies, standards, guidelines, and plans that prioritize mixed-use development, walkability, and access to public transit – hallmarks of New Urbanism.Streamlining the development approval process is also vital. This includes implementing a “by-right” approval process for projects aligning with established climate resilience policies, reducing the potential for obstruction by special interests.A clear, discretionary review process should remain in place for projects requiring council or supervisor approval, ensuring consistency with broader civic goals.
Specific planning is required depending on the chosen resilience strategy. if retreat or evacuation is necessary, the audit must detail the specific climate calamity, its potential impact, designated emergency routes, choice destinations, and clearly defined responsibilities (e.g., fire marshal, city manager/mayor). For example,wildfire evacuation plans should include well-marked routes with considerations for emergency vehicle access and potential lane adjustments.Conversely, if hardening against climate impacts is the chosen path, the audit must identify the specific threats, appropriate response measures, and responsible parties (e.g., building and development services manager). This could involve implementing fire-safe building codes in wildfire-prone areas, creating defensible space around clustered developments, and ensuring access for firefighting resources. Similar considerations apply to flooding, sea level rise, and extreme weather events, referencing resources like Martin Dreiling’s 2010 Fire Mitigation in the Wildland Urban Interface SmartCode module (https://transect.org/modules.html).
the audit should prioritize a capital Improvement Plan (CIP) based on the ”path of least resistance” – identifying investments that yield the greatest impact for the lowest cost. An example would be funding and maintaining tactical ”communication command control centers” for rapid disaster response.
This step-by-step audit, informed by sound urban planning principles, offers a pragmatic framework for communities to proactively address the challenges of a changing climate. The approach was recently discussed during a CNU webinar on “Climate-ready communities” (
