Report: Prioritizing neighborhood infill, expanding transit options increases neighborhood resilience

With the threat of climate change looming, cities that prioritize neighborhood resilience and equity will be best equipped to withstand future challenges. Last week, the United States Conference of Mayors and the Wells Fargo Institute for Sustainable Finance released a report highlighting strategies for communities looking to address the impact of the climate crisis.

“Mayors continue to be on the front lines as they deal with the consequences of the climate crisis in their own communities and push for solutions,” said USCM President and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez about the report, “Investing in Resilient and Equitable Neighborhoods,” in a statement. He called the report “a blueprint to help communities as they work to become more resilient, which would not have been possible without the collaboration between mayors and business partners over the past year.”

The report highlights three overarching principles: Engaging and empowering communities (especially in lower income and historically disadvantaged neighborhoods), collaboration across sectors, and a whole-system approach to creating resilience.

“At the intersections of land use, transportation, buildings, energy, and nature, leaders can work together to identify ways to implement strategies holistically to prevent unintended consequences,” the report says, noting the three principles can serve as a guide for administrators as they address myriad challenges in their communities. In this, equity correlates to resilience, because with inequity there is insufficient economic opportunity, a lack of mobility, and low productivity.

Practically, cities should reconsider their approach to growth and, instead of building outward, encourage infill development. Building outward requires more infrastructure, which is expensive to maintain. This means investing within existing neighborhoods by bringing goods, services and people closer together. 

“The goal is not density for the sake of density; rather, the goal is improved accessibility, more cost-effective services, more active, healthier communities, and a more prosperous local economy,” the report continues. 

Up-zoning low density parcels of land, deregulating parking restrictions (letting the market determine the need instead of the other way around), redeveloping underutilized lots, and encouraging expansion around existing transit infrastructure are all listed as effective ways to increase density, among other things.

The importance of getting away from an over-reliance on cars, and shifting investments toward public transit, is also noted. This doesn’t just apply to large metropolitan centers. Small communities also benefit from robust public and alternative transit systems. To that end, communities should focus on expanding micromobility options—including pedal-powered bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes. Micromobility can complement existing transit and pedestrian infrastructure, and better connect communities to services, the report says.

“The flexibility of micromobility supports a wide range of use cases and offer credible commuting options when transit disruptions or failures occur, including extreme weather and flooding, mechanical problems, power outages, and public health crises,” the report says.

Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings is another area of focus that directly impacts resiliency. Homes that rely on clean energy sources are resilient, both because they’re healthier to live in and they’re more sustainable. The report notes Winter Storm Uri and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which both spiked the price of natural gas, as examples of why clean energy is more resilient. Appliances and heating systems that rely on natural gas require two energy sources—the gas and, in most cases, electricity.

“Conversely, with just one fuel needed (electricity), electric homes are only connected to one energy infrastructure system and one that can be powered by local, distributed energy resources,” the report says. Advancements like community solar, battery storage, microgrids (self-sufficient energy systems that serve a small footprint, like a hospital or neighborhood), and resilience hubs can also help. 

Finally, the report stresses the importance of implementing nature-based solutions into design. Planting trees can cut down on the heat island effect and better manage stormwater runoff. And protecting coastal communities is more effective than building seawalls.

“Nature-based strategies are often undervalued and considered nice-to-haves rather than critical parts of an effective resilient neighborhood,” the report says. The federal government recently prioritized nature based solutions in an effort to meet the nation’s climate goals.

The importance of preventing displacement of residents through public-private partnerships, and community land trusts is also noted in the report.

The mayoral conference’s initiative with Wells Fargo was announced at the conference’s 2022 Winter Leadership Meeting. It kicked off a year of meetings with city leaders, experts, and nonprofits, brought together to talk about local needs, the climate crisis, and the best ways to foster neighborhood resilience. 

“As cities pursue resilience, they will also reduce emissions, build and sustain community wealth, and encourage more socially and economically diverse communities,” the research concludes. “As the report shows across numerous strategies, resilience at-scale is not inherently a larger, more centralized solution. Instead, resilience may also be scaled through networks and other decentralized yet aggregated systems.”