Planning for urban resilience in a changing climate
Planning for urban resilience in a changing climate
Embedded Files
In this area of my research, I focus on how cities are translating resilience into practice, evaluating whether resilience efforts are effectively and equitably tackling climate change threats.
I critically examine resilience plans, policies, and governance structures in different cities. I also have ongoing projects focused specifically on resilience to flooding and extreme heat, which are the costliest and deadliest hazards in the US, respectively.
This work reveals opportunities and challenges for urban climate change adaptation, hazard mitigation, and resilience planning and their integration as part of a community's network of plans.
I am also interested in the politics of climate adaptation in cities of the Global North and South, including how institutions evolve, the decision-making processes, and whose resilience gets prioritized as a result and why.
Illustrative Publications
Illustrative Publications
Gilbertson, Philip & Sara Meerow. 2024. “Improving the quality of climate change adaptation through state mandate: The case of California.” Journal of the American Planning Association. Link
Meerow, Sara, Ladd Keith, Malini Roy, Shaylynn Trego. 2024. “Plan evaluation for heat resilience: Complementary methods to comprehensively assess heat planning in Tempe and Tucson, Arizona.” Environmental Research Letters.19: 084050. Link
Meerow, Sara, Bryce Hannibal, Sierra C. Woodruff, Malini Roy, Melina Matos, Philip G. Gilbertson. 2024. “Urban flood resilience networks: Exploring the relationship between governance networks, networks of plans, and spatial flood resilience policies in four coastal cities.” Annals of the American Association of Geographers. Link
Meerow, Sara & Ladd Keith. 2021. “Planning for extreme heat: A national survey of U.S. planners.” Journal of the American Planning Association. Link
Keith, Ladd & Sara Meerow. 2022. PAS Report 600: Planning for urban heat resilience. Chicago: American Planning Association. Link
Hannibal, Bryce, Sara Meerow, Sierra C. Woodruff, Malini Roy, Philip Gilbertson, Melina Matos. 2022. “Who collaborates on urban resilience? An analysis of flood resilience planning networks in four coastal cities.” Journal of Urban Affairs. Link
Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, V. Kelly Turner, David M. Hondula, James C. Arnott. Forthcoming. “Deploy heat officers, policies and metrics: Cities need heat governance to plan for extreme temperatures and protect those most at risk” Comment in Nature. Link
Woodruff, Sierra C., Sara Meerow, Philip Gilbertson, Bryce Hannibal, Melina Matos, Malini Roy, Matthew Malecha, Siyu Yu, Philip Berke. 2021. “Is flood resilience planning improving? A longitudinal analysis of networks of plans in Boston and Fort Lauderdale.” Climate Risk Management. Link
Fastiggi, Mary, Sara Meerow, Thaddeus R. Miller. 2020. “Governing urban resilience: Organizational structures and coordination strategies in 20 North American city governments.” Urban Studies. Link
Meerow, Sara & Sierra Woodruff. 2020. “Seven principles of strong climate change planning.” Journal of the American Planning Association. Link
Meerow, Sara, Pani Pajouhesh, Thaddeus Miller. 2019. “Social equity in urban resilience planning.” Local Environment. Link
Woodruff, Sierra, Sara Meerow, Melissa Stults, Chandler Wilkins. 2018. “Adaptation to Resilience Planning: Alternative pathways to prepare for climate change.” Journal of Planning Education and Research. Link
Meerow, Sara. 2017. "Double exposure, infrastructure planning, and urban climate resilience in coastal megacities: A case study of Manila" Environment and Planning A. Link
Meerow, Sara & Carrie Mitchell. 2017. “Weathering the Storm: The politics of urban climate change adaptation planning” Environment and Planning A. Link
Nordgren, John, Melissa Stults, Sara Meerow. 2016. "Supporting Local Climate Change Adaptation: Where we are and where we need to go" Environmental Science & Policy. Link
Report abuse