Vulnerability of What? Vulnerability of Whom? : evaluating and communicating vulnerability to extreme floods in Houston, TX using a novel web-based platform

Abstract

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 81-88).The global climate is changing and these changes will continue to have adverse effects on cities and their residents. Coastal cities in particular, which contain the majority of the global urban population, are becoming increasingly sensitive to changing climactic conditions. The particularly devastating extreme storm season experienced in 2017-18 on the east coast of the United States (including storms Harvey, Irma, Maria, and four nor'easters on the mid-Atlantic coast) has intensified discussion regarding the preparation for, response to, and communication of risk and vulnerabilities related to extreme weather events. Risk is a function of the probability of experiencing a hazard event and the vulnerability of the system in question. Vulnerability to extreme weather events is the susceptibility of a system to internal or external stressors, exposure to those stressors, and the capacity of that system to adapt or respond to that extreme event. These concepts are understood in terms of social, economic, environmental, infrastructural, institutional, and built environment systems, and the focus of policymakers and stakeholders is often split between these domains. Furthermore, responses to vulnerability of any one categorical domain is potentially incongruous with responses to other domains. The modes by which this information is presented to decision-makers often either preferences single domains of interest or obscures the degree to which individual categories influence overall measures of vulnerability. Similarly, this information is often spatialized and presented in a planimetric view which is at times at odds with the conditions experienced on the ground before, during, and after an extreme event. This project begins with a review of relevant literature exploring definitions and measures of vulnerability to extreme flood events, identifying gaps in existing categorical domain combinations and opportunities for the application of a novel method of synthesis for Houston, Texas, a city hit by three 500-year storms in as many years and in the process of updating building codes, flood zone designations, and precipitation estimates. This method is then applied using established statistical tools to create vulnerability scores for social and built environment systems. The result of this analysis is presented in a novel way using web-based technologies that transcend the strictly-planimetric view of the city. This method blends traditional cartographic techniques with perspective, elevation, and diagrammatic representation methods, as well as collected images, to contextualize estimated vulnerability. The resultant web tool is available online at houstonbetweenthelines.com.by Mario A. Giampieri.M.C.P