In the past decade, sustainability emerged as one of the leading issues in the planning field. Since the events of Hurricane Sandy last October, resiliency has stolen the spotlight as communities, cities, and regions have discussed ways to cope with future disasters. The issues of sustainability and resiliency are strongly interconnected, but are still treated as mostly separate areas of planning and policy. In "Climate Change and Planning," Kieran Donaghy emphasizes the need to incorporate mitigtion and adaption efforts into a comprehensive framework that is inclusive and flexible.
Perhaps the greatest opportunity for transitioning to a sustainable and resilient future is through imminent long-term investments in infrastructure. For example, the electricity system is aging and will require substantial reinvestment in the coming years. This investment could be used to rebuild the same inefficient and environmentally harmful system or it could be used to invest in a new system architecture that would advance the goals of sustainability and resiliency.
In New York City, following Hurricane Sandy, there has been much talk about changing zoning codes so that buildings can move generators from the basement to the roof and government officials have voiced support for distributed energy technologies that would allow energy customers to maintain power during disturbances to the grid. Before Sandy, much of the talk was about energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but now the discussion has transitioned from focusing on sustainability to now preaching resiliency. We as planners should establish a framework that ensures we will focus on mitigation and adaption by leveraging limited resources to advance both interests.
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