ABSTRACT

Recent research on climate adaptation points to the need to take flood control seriously as a state-led process that organizes and responds to the racial and environmental spaces of cities. The present study advances that agenda by focusing on the federally funded retreat of homes and residents from flood-prone urban neighborhoods. While officially organized by rational engineering and technocratic calculations, its implementation cannot escape the racialized landscapes of U.S. cities. To illustrate, we review how a century of unequal environmental planning and housing policy has forged today’s racialized urban landscapes. Then, we turn to the federal government’s entrance into those landscapes via its policy of managed retreat that purchases flood-prone homes and returns them to nature. Here we draw on nationwide data to reveal the policy’s increasing urban orientation. We then present evidence from Houston to reveal how the racial composition and turnover of local neighborhoods influence program implementation and subsequent relocation. While not every city may experience the same racialized patterns as Houston, they will exhibit some patterns due to the powerful social and environmental force that race has long exerted in U.S. cities. Failing to account for that force will compromise efforts to adapt effectively to climate change.

摘要

最近关于气候适应的研究表明，需要认真对待防洪，将其作为一个国家主导的过程，组织和应对城市的种族和环境空间。本研究通过关注联邦政府资助的家庭和居民从易受洪水侵袭的城市社区撤退来推进该议程。虽然由理性工程和技术专家计算正式组织，但其实施无法逃脱美国城市的种族化景观。为了说明这一点，我们回顾了一个世纪以来不平等的环境规划和住房政策如何塑造了当今种族化的城市景观。然后，我们转向联邦政府通过其购买易受洪水侵袭的房屋并将其归还自然的管理撤退政策进入这些景观。在这里，我们利用全国数据来揭示该政策日益增加的城市导向。然后，我们提供来自休斯顿的证据，以揭示当地社区的种族构成和营业额如何影响计划实施和随后的搬迁。虽然并非每个城市都可能经历与休斯顿相同的种族化模式，但由于种族长期以来在美国城市施加的强大的社会和环境力量，它们会表现出一些模式。不考虑这种力量将影响有效适应气候变化的努力。由于种族长期以来在美国城市施加的强大的社会和环境力量，它们将表现出一些模式。不考虑这种力量将影响有效适应气候变化的努力。由于种族长期以来在美国城市施加的强大的社会和环境力量，它们将表现出一些模式。不考虑这种力量将影响有效适应气候变化的努力。