Aimed at preventing and adapting to modern urban vulnerabilities, Atlanta’s new resilience strategy tackles responses to extreme climate events like major floods and heat waves, terrorist threats and long-term stresses such as income inequality and a lack of affordable housing.
The strategy is a partnership with 100 Resilient Cities and recommends more than 55 actions, including short-term and long-term needs.
Related: 10 Tips for Green Building Certification
Resilient Atlanta was created with feedback from more than 7,000 residents and a 100-member advisory group representing the city’s business, faith-based, nonprofit, academic and civic engagement communities.
Of particular interest to FMs are calls for smarter sustainability strategies and infrastructure improvements, including:
- Creating a stormwater utility fee that will fund a city-wide stormwater management program
- Piloting a water efficiency certification program for restaurants
- Launching a group purchasing plan for solar panels to increase access to renewable energy technology
- Developing a city investment checklist to make sure all neighborhoods benefit from public improvement initiatives and investments in infrastructure
- Improving stormwater flooding responsiveness with a permission-based data platform that will grant city officials greater insight into the water system’s performance
- Strengthening disaster preparedness and response in the community by 2021 by expanding the Citizens Emergency Response Training program
The Mayor’s Office of Resilience will update the strategy every four years and will supplement these updates with annual report cards to address the city’s progress toward its goals. Learn more about Atlanta’s resilience plans and the 100 Resilient Cities partnership.
Find out what other cities are doing:
