on Oct 07, 2014

Strategic Planning for Resiliency

HR&A works with public, private, and non-profit leaders to address physical, social, and economic resiliency in cities across North America and around the world, with a focus on implementable solutions.

HR&A Advisors has been a leader in resiliency planning in the Northeastern United States in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, including Jamie Torres Springer’s role in the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, our work managing NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program efforts for New York State, and participation in the innovative Rebuild by Design process. We are also proud to be working with the Rockefeller Foundation on its 100 Resilient Cities initiative to develop resilience strategies around the world and to be program managing Rockefeller’s Capacity Building Initiative in support of the National Disaster Resilience Competition. We have provided key economic framework guidance for resiliency efforts and a public-private approach to implementation that draws on project value for funding. In the months and years ahead, HR&A is committed to working with public, private, and non-profit partners to learn from our common experiences and to design and implement strategies that promote resiliency in urban places over the long term.

Infrastructure: Planning for and Financing Resilient Infrastructure

_{Southern Manhattan Multi-purpose Levee. Image Courtesy of FXFowle Architects.}

HR&A is developing ambitious resiliency projects for the Sandy-impacted region, using creative approaches to public-private financing. Our work includes advancing New York City’s Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency initiatives, including a self-financing levee system that would also support the city’s future growth through land reclamation along the East River waterfront.

Economic Resiliency: Practical Adaptive Solutions

_{Rebuild By Design.}

HR&A is keeping economic feasibility and implementation issues at the forefront of the resiliency conversation, including through HUD’s Rebuild By Design process, where we proposed flood protection measures that will also revitalize businesses and communities.

Social Resiliency: Public Engagement and Capacity Building

_{New York Rising Public Meeting.}

Innovative resiliency projects require engagement of community members, civic leaders, and key stakeholders in determining their future. HR&A is at the forefront of this effort, creating and managing forums for engagement from the community center to City Hall, through the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program and the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge.

Awards

• In 2014, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association honored the HR&A/Parsons Brinckerhoff contribution to the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program with the Globe Award for First Place in Public Transit.

Select Projects

• New York State: Community Reconstruction Program Governor’s Conference
• New York State: New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program for 10 Communities in New York City
• Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce: Proposal Development for Sandy Recovery Game Changer Competition
• Alliance for Downtown New York: Proposal Development for Sandy Recovery Game Changer Competition
• NYC Office of Recovery and Resiliency/NYCEDC: Southern Manhattan Multi-Purpose Levee Feasibility Study
• NYC Office of Recovery and Resiliency/NYCEDC: Coney Island Creek Tidal Barrier and Wetlands Feasibility Study
• NYC Office of Recovery and Resiliency: Affordability Study on Multifamily Flood Insurance
• US Housing and Urban Development: Rebuild By Design – Proposals for Commercial Corridor Resiliency; Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: A Comprehensive Strategy for Hoboken; Hunts Point Lifelines
• Rockefeller Foundation: 100 Resilient Cities Challenge in New York City, Los Angeles, California, Norfolk, Virginia, Boulder, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas
• Rockefeller Foundation: National Disaster Resilience Competition