Resilient Land Use Cohort
Preparing communities for the impacts of climate change is a key aspect of ULI’s mission to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. ULI’s Urban Resilience program is proud to host the Resilient Land Use Cohort (RLUC), a technical assistance, learning, and network building opportunity for 8 US district councils.
Each Council participating in the Resilient Land Use Cohort has hosted or will host a Technical Assistance or Advisory Services (vTAP or vASP) panel or workshop focused on enhancing climate resilience through planning, zoning, land use, and development strategy, as well as addressing affordable housing, community development, and infrastructure planning.
RLUC has brought together ULI member leaders and community stakeholders to identify strategies to be more resilient in the face of climate change and other vulnerabilities, including floods, extreme storms, drought, wildfire, and extreme heat, as well as the related social, environmental, and economic impacts.
RLUC’s goal is to inspire implementable action towards climate adaptation and resilience in 8 cities across the U.S., and to share emerging and best practices in climate resilient land use and related learnings to their communities and the broader ULI membership. ULI members participating in RLUC activities, also known as RLUC Member Advisers, provide direct technical assistance to these communities through virtual convenings to support peer cities’ ability to take the next steps towards institutionalizing climate resilient land use policies and development.
The Resilient Land Use Cohort's communities include:
District Council | Sponsor | Summary | Resources |
ULI Chicago | City of Chicago | ULI conducted a series of task force workshops with the goal of developing a framework for building equitable, resilient, and sustainable neighborhoods as building blocks of a thriving, climate-prepared city. The tasks forces identified key physical, social, and economic elements that can help build resilience at the neighborhood and city levels, as well as develop policy recommendations and a climate action plan. | Panel report. Learn more about the ULI Chicago Resilience Initiative. |
ULI Dallas | City of Dallas | ULI convened a vASP focusing on a half mile in northwestern Dallas, where a tornado struck in 2019. The panel was asked to provide recommendations on how to promote greater social cohesion within the study area while promoting climate resilience and environmental justice. | Panel report. Presentation recording and slide deck. |
ULI Houston | City of Houston | ULI convened a vTAP to brainstorm possible future Houston city policies to encourage local property owners and developers to mitigate extreme heat with their projects, opportunities for short-term heat mitigation feasibility by referencing relevant regulations and potential financing mechanisms, and potential strategies to help Houston reach its extreme heat resilience goals. | Slide deck. Presentation recording and the panel report forthcoming. |
ULI Nashville | Nashville-Davidson County; Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC); Core Development | ULI convened a vTAP to focus on land use strategies, building requirements, and other policies and programs that can help mitigate the effects of heat in downtown adjacent neighborhoods in Nashville. Specifically, the panel addressed building and site-scale landscape heat design resilience strategies, building retrofits and land use heat mitigation, and equitable heat financing opportunities. | Presentation recording and slide deck. Panel report forthcoming. |
ULI New York | New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) | ULI convened a vTAP to examine how Marlboro Houses, a NYCHA development in Brooklyn, could be made more resilient to climate-induced hazards with careful consideration of its landscape, buildings, operations, and financing. Marlboro was heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 but due to its public-private funding model, was deemed ineligible for FEMA relief funds. | Forthcoming. |
ULI Northwest | City of Seattle | Forthcoming. | Forthcoming. |
ULI Philadelphia | Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) | ULI convened a vASP to conduct a detailed examination of the Master Plan of Central Delaware’s finger piers, which play a critical role in sea level rise and increasingly frequent precipitation events and storms. DRWC sought recommendations for the development of the finger piers and incentivizing resilient waterfront development. | Presentation recording. Slide deck. Panel report forthcoming. |
ULI Tampa Bay | City of Tampa | ULI convened a vTAP to provide City of Tampa-owned stormwater areas creative design and equity centered solutions for addressing stormwater management and retention while also adding value and appeal through more functional and multi-purposed uses. It also explored successful frameworks for governance, finance operations, and management of green spaces focused on equitable outcomes. | Slide deck. Presentation recording. Panel report forthcoming. |
At the conclusion of the cohort in Winter 2021, learnings from technical assistance engagements and cohort discussion will be synthesized in a final report, to be widely shared among the ULI membership and participating RLUC communities.
Funding for RLUC is provided by the ULI Foundation through support from JPMorgan Chase.